10,000 miles
by k0m0d0-342
Summary: ...umm..Sonic..go psycho..stuph happen...sorry. When Amy is presumed dead, Sonic starts taking it hard... three days after her death, he does the unthinkable. And the unthinkable happens as a consequence. COMPLETED!
1. the beggingnig CRAPICANTSPELL

Okay, this is just some idea I had a long time ago (like sixth grade) and typed it up, and it was inspired by a book called _So B. It _and a fanfiction called _Interrupted,_ both very beautiful literary works. So B. It inspired the beginning, and the fanfiction inspired me to update. I might not continue; this is just a random idea that I had almost two years ago. I need your opinion as to keep it or not.

And Shelby, DON'T READ THIS! ...Please? ...Oh, you're just going to read it anyway, aren't you? Oh phooey!

* * *

Nightmares

Alone

Darkness

Gone.

Gone.

Thought Sonic to himself as he sat on the edge of his bed. It was dark but Sonic could not sleep.

As he could not for the last few days.

It happened so fast but all Sonic could remember was that the agony was slow. Slow and horrible.

Sonic wished suffering were like water, the larger area it had to cover, the thinner it got.

Suffering was more like mountains- rolling on forever with their ups and downs, but never reaching a valley.

And the more area they cover; the taller their peak is.

It had been only three days. Three. How did everything change so fast? In just three days?

He could almost feel Amy's arms around him... The day replayed itself in his mind. Starting from the very beginning. The very first morning... The very last morning...

The day Amy Rose had died.

* * *

Sonic woke up groggily to the sound of his alarm; he clumsily pushed the button only to reach too far out and fall of the side of the bed. He hit his head on the dresser and muttered out a string of curses. After complaining over the pain for a while, Sonic got to his knees, rubbing his sore head and eventually standing up. Once he did, however, he heard a knock on his door.

"Sonic? Sonic, are you okay?"

* * *

Amy's voice. What Sonic wouldn't give to hear Amy's voice...

* * *

"I'm fine, Ames... I-I just hit my head." Sonic said. She must have heard his err... "creative" language and wonder what was the matter. Amy opened the door and walked inside, smiling lightly at him, as if to say. _What in the world am I going to do with you?

* * *

_

What Sonic wouldn't give to see her walk in the door right now.

* * *

Amy had walked over to him and made him sit down on the bed, looking at the small bruise behind his ear. She gently stroked his quills, pulling Sonic into a constricting hug, despite Sonic's agitated squirms. Sonic tried to push her away.

"It's just a bruise, Amy... stop it!" Sonic protested, trying to push out of her arms. Amy chuckled and gave the bruise a quick kiss, then letting Sonic go. Sonic stood up, a little angry. He gathered up his dignity, (or what was left) and stepped away from her. It's not very dignifying to have someone cuddle you to death after you get hit in the head. It makes you feel small. Amy smiled, a little embarrassed, and walked over to the door.

"I'm sorry, Sonic, I can't help it." She said, turning around to face him as she opened the door. "Sometimes I can't help thinking about you as my precious little baby."

"W-well I'm not!" Sonic protested. Amy sighed.

"I'm sorry. Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry..."

"Not right now, Ames." Sonic said, lying back down in bed. (RHYME! UNINTENTIONAL RHYME! YAY!) "It's Saturday; and I'm tired."

"Suit yourself." Amy said, smiling. Sonic turned to face away from her. Amy was about to leave, but paused and turned back to get another look at Sonic. She smiled. "Rest up, my hero." She said under her breath, and walked out, closing the door behind her.

* * *

That had been three days ago, those three, long, tourmenting days. Later that day, around noon, an alert came up that Eggman was storing a powerful explosive device in his secret base and threatened to smuggle and detonate it inside a heavily populated city. Sonic, Amy, Fliara (not important, OC, read _Fear_, which has good summary if important) Tails, and Knuckles all left to the location of eggman's discovered base to stop him from sending the bomb to the city.

They had snuck into the base in-groups. Sonic and Amy went through the northeast entrance, while Fliara and Tails took the southern side, going through different routes, and Knux took the northwest entrance. They made their way into the main chamber, the holder of the bomb, simultaneously. Eggman was awaiting them, controller in hand.

"I see you've found me at last. Welcome to my humble abode."

"Welcome this!" Fliara said, throwing a fireball at eggman's face. His robot walker jumped out of the way. The villain fired some shots at Fliara, but she jumped to the ceiling, sticking there, clambering around upside-down for a while, and dodging the bullets. Sonic did a dash attack to the robot, only to get knocked aside. However, this did give Fliara a break from being shot at, and took the opportunity to jump on top of Eggman, wresting the gun from his hands and bashing him over the head with it. Knuckles then came into the picture and started beating up the robot walker that Eggman sat in. Dents began to appear in the steel of the metal behemoth's legs, and groaning complaints floated from the machinery inside. Fliara dug her fire-adorned hands into the robot's metal arm and pulled out some wires that snapped noisily and fizzled in the flames. Sonic got up from the ground, with Amy's help, and turned to Tails.

"Tails! Get rid of the bomb!" He shouted. Tails nodded, and flew to the explosive device, picking it up and began to fly away with it, possibly to drop it in the ocean.

"Oh no you don't!" Shouted Eggman, pushing a button. Suddenly, Tails heard a beeping nose from the bomb. A timer indicated 1:00. Two seconds later it read 0:58 Tails gasped and dropped it to the ground.

"Get out of here! Everybody out! It's gonna blow!" Shouted Tails. Tails picked up Knuckles, (the nearest person who couldn't fly) and flew off as fast as he could. Fliara shot through one of the second story windows, glass scattering on the ground, and started running down the hall behind it. Sonic and Amy ran in the same direction, only through the first story hall. Eggman laughed maniacally as he escaped, his robot taking to the air. His robot guards started escaping as well; A few entered the hallway that Amy and Sonic were using to escape. The robots, at the sight of Sonic, started firing at the two. Amy turned around and smashed two with her hammer, then turning to run again. Sonic followed her. Pretty soon, more robots closed around them. Sonic and Amy fought them for a while, Amy often doing more damage then her spiny blue hero. Finally, after what seemed like the seventy-fifth robot, Amy realized...

They weren't going to make it.

She turned to Sonic. "Run! Get out of here!" She shouted. Sonic looked at her, confused.

"No! I- I'm not leaving you!"

"Go!" Amy shouted at him, clearing a way for him.

"No! I wont!"

"GO!" Amy shouted, hitting him with her hammer. Sonic stumbled back, hurt, cradling his injured arm. He didn't understand. He stepped towards her.

"A-amy?"

"GO!"

Sonic turned and took a few hurried steps through the hall, but turned around, deciding he just couldn't leave.

"Amy!"

Amy hit a button on the wall with her hammer; a steel door closed in front of him.

"No!" Sonic exclaimed, running to the door, hitting it, beating against it, calling Amy's name. "No! Amy!" Sonic took a few steps back and attacked it with every ability in his arsenal, distressed to find that it would not budge. He leaned against the steel door and breathed heavily, panicked. Suddenly, one of the ceiling tiles gave loose and Fliara dropped from above.

"Sonic! What are you still doing here! Get out!"

"No! Amy!"

Fliara, not understanding, grabbed Sonic's arm and dragged him along the hallway. Sonic fought back but soon couldn't as his feet were lifted from the ground. Before Sonic knew it, he was too far away to get back in time.

"No!" He shouted, punching at Fliara's arm. The dragon glared back at him, and once she exited the building, threw Sonic into the ground.

"Just what do you think you're doing? Come on, we're still not clear of the blast yet!" She said, picking Sonic up and flying even further from where Amy was. Fliara nearly exited the valley: setting Sonic on a small cliff.

"No! Fliara, its Amy! She's still in there!" Sonic protested as Fliara set him down on the ground; now far enough away. He found himself next to Knuckles and Tails.

"Sonic, I'm sure she can get out by herself. She-"

"NO!" Sonic screamed, punching Fliara to the ground and running towards the edge. Knuckles grabbed him and held him back. Sonic shouted various curses and fought against knuckles, when suddenly the distant base exploded. Sonic froze. He... he was too late... She was gone... she was gone... Sonic had fallen to his knees and wept. Long, hard, convulsive sobs that bit savagely into his soul with every heave of his shoulders; for he couldn't believe it.

Amy was dead.

* * *

Sonic again found tears in his eyes after reliving that day. He couldn't take it. He just couldn't. Sonic sighed and picked up his bag, knowing very well what was in it. He walked slowly out the door, through his house and into the street, taking his time as he neared the ocean. He sighed. Was this the right choice?

It was the only thing left to do.

* * *

Oooh, Sonic's going cahraaaaazaay! Yep! He's going to the ocean, and his head's all discombobulated and GUESS WHAT HE'S GONNA DO! WRONG! GUESS AGAIN! CLOSER! WHAT WAS THAT? DID I HEAR 'JOIN THE CIRCUS AND GO TO CANADA?' **WRONG! **I guess you'll have to tune in tomorrow. yeah, that is if I decide to continue this story... hmm... well, I'll need input first. See you all later! ...That is trusting that the government won't find me... 


	2. the ocean

Yay! Yeah,I needed a little break from _Fear_. Don't worry, next chapter will be up soon. I just need to do this at the same time to get all of this mushy guck out of my system. Thanks to all reviewers!

* * *

On his way to the beach, he remembered the next two days he spent without Amy. He had tried to be alone; for when he was with others he often lost his temper... Sonic sighed, regretting his actions. He wished he hadn't shouted but they just didn't know when Sonic couldn't take it anymore. Whenever they said a word about Amy it stabbed into Sonic like a knife. Sonic just couldn't take it. One day he had punched Tails; unable to stand how he kept talking about Amy; Sonic had told him for what seemed like the hundredth time he couldn't talk about her; he just couldn't- but Tails wouldn't listen! Finally Sonic just exploded and for the next day and a half spent his time alone. Sonic had moved his bed and table into a windowless room. He often stayed in there, in the dark. Sometimes, he imagined that Amy was still alive... that she was sitting there with him. He'd imagine what she'd say to him... how she'd apologize for scaring him like that, making him think she was dead and everything. In the dark, sitting there, his eyes could not tell him otherwise.

Soon knuckles had come back over to talk to him. They had a long discussion about what was wrong with him. Sonic could tell that Knuckles was trying very hard not to mention Amy. Finally, Knuckles started getting concerned. The things Sonic said... they were... weird... Sonic had noticed Knuckles' fear but ignored it. It wasn't important. He could care less about what people thought now, about what he did, what he said...

It helped ease the pain.

On the next day, Knuckles brought over a psychiatrist, telling Sonic that he needed to talk to someone about all of this. After four hours of talking, the psychiatrist exited the room, sadly breaking the news to Knuckles:

Sonic had been judged mentally unhealthy.

Sonic knew better. They were the crazy ones. He couldn't 'move on' ...Amy wasn't just a girl. No, Amy was his everything. They treated it like something that would heal. Something that would go away, they didn't understand at all. They didn't understand that she was inside of him; in ever corner of his mind there was Amy and no one could ever change that. He had stayed there, in his room, for an entire day and a half: exiting only twice. Never to get food; Sonic hadn't ate for three days. The first time it was to get a picture of Amy. Sonic didn't have many; there were only two. He currently had his favorite one in his pack.

It was a picture that Tails and Fliara took during the group's trip to a tropical-place. There had been a small orchard, and the group took the opportunity to eat lunch there.

Amy was sitting under an apple tree, staring into space, light dappled pleasantly amongst the grass from the tree's leaves. Amy hadn't been aware a picture was even taken. Tails had given him the picture shortly after the events that transcribed in Sonic Heroes.

The second time was to get...

Sonic didn't like thinking about it. Sonic did not like to think about the future or the past. He knew that after he reached the ocean he would have no future and that his past would be full of nothing but memories of Amy's face and memories of death.

Sonic stopped. He had reached the beach. He sighed shakily, terrified of what he was about to do, and walked towards the dock, careful not to make a sound. The blue hedgehog walked slowly across the sand, his footprints dotting the shoreline as he trekked up the beach.

* * *

"Sonic, can you tell me what Amy was like?" Asked the psychiatrist, apparently uncomfortable in the dark, windowless room. Sonic gave him a blank stare. What was Amy like? There weren't many words for it. If you've ever lost a person you've loved, then you know how hard it is to put into words, and if you haven't, consider yourself undeniably lucky.

"She was the ocean. She was the sky. She was my whole world." Sonic concluded, feeling like that summary was acceptable.

"Sonic, You don't understand, I-"

"No!" Shouted Sonic, tipping over the table. He couldn't take it anymore! "You don't understand! You don't understand what Amy meant to me!" He shouted. The psychiatrist managed to quiet him down. He sighed heavily, running his fingers through his short, frizzy red hair.

"Listen, I know that you loved Amy, but don't you think that what you're doing is unhealthy?"

* * *

Sonic didn't really care. His health was the last thing on his mind. He walked up the length of the dock; it reached out from the shore and bridged over onto the deeper waters, then stopping abruptly with a small guardrail. Often fisherman fished crab from up here, they'd slowly drop the trap into the water from high up on the dock.

Sonic didn't plan on catching any fish; he was here for an entirely different reason.

He slowly neared the edge and sighed, placing his pack on the ground. He kneeled next to it, and opened it, taking out the objects it held.

The first one was his picture of Amy. He sighed and held it to his chest for a moment. He tried to tell himself it would all be over soon, but it did not help the pain. He set the picture down on the dock. He took out the next object. An apple. Sonic was terribly hungry... It wasn't much of a last meal but Sonic had brought it anyway. He took a bite, surprised by how good it tasted. Halfway through the apple, Sonic decided that was all he could eat. Memories of Amy kept coming to him and he couldn't ignore them. Whenever that sorrow crept up on him, he just lost his appetite. Sonic took out the last three items. The first item was one of Amy's headbands, which he got from her house. Tails had brought it to cheer him up. The next item was a note. Sonic quickly scribbled out a small message and then left it on the dock with the other objects. The third, object, however,

...Was a knife.

Sonic picked it up and stared at it. Was this the right choice? Was this the right choice?

Sonic stared at the blade.

_Was this the right choice?_

_I'm sorry, Tails, Knuckles... Fliara, you can be the hero now... you'll make a great leader... And Amy... Amy...  
__  
I'm coming.

* * *

_

The officer paced down the beach quietly, on his new patrol duty; Teenagers had been vandalizing the beach hot dog stands, and this time he planned to catch them. He stopped and inspected the usual area. The hotdog stand was safe and sound, the offensive sentences had been washed off, (thank god they were in cheap watercolor spray-paint) and everything looked at peace. He sighed. He hadn't uncovered a big case in a while. And cops had such a bad reputation in this town. Nobody liked authority. Hey, a few years backwards down the road, and this very same person would be among the crowds of anti-government; but it was a paying job! He sighed and turned, hoping to catch someone at the other hot-dog stand, when he heard a splash from the dock. It sounded like something got pushed off the side. The officer, hoping it was those teenagers again, ran to the dock.

* * *

Sonic released his hands from the blade as he hit the water. He had tried to stab himself in the chest, but had chickened out. It ended up stabbing into his stomach. But that didn't matter now. Sonic saw the blood in the water and hoped it was enough to kill him. He would drown or bleed to death; whichever came first. He sunk further to the bottom, when he realized he was still holding his breath. He had to stop this. He had already gone too far to turn back. There was nothing left to hold onto. He stopped fighting for breath and felt the water fill his lungs. Sonic was scared. He coughed lightly; but of course it did no good underwater. So; he sank there, wishing death would hurry up.

* * *

The officer came to the end of the dock, looking for the culprits, when he saw a few objects at the end of the dock. He kneeled down to look at them. One was a picture of... what was her name? Oh yeah, Amy Rose. Sonic's friend. The officer had often seen her once or twice at the grocery store. Once, he saw her, Sonic, Knux, a bat, a fox, a rabbit and a dragon (strange bunch, no?) go to a movie. It was old news that Amy Rose was incredibly in love with Sonic, but some rumored Sonic to have feelings for her in return. These maters hadn't concerned the officer much. The then looked, and saw a half-eaten apple, and a headband, as well as a note. The officer picked it up, and read it.

_-To whoever finds this.  
__I can't take it anymore.  
__I'm sorry, everyone, I tried... it was just too much._

The officer read through the rest of the note and then realized... It was a suicide note! From Sonic the hedgehog? What of all things? The officer ran to the edge of the dock and looked over the side, scanning over the icy waves; their foamy fingers pulling at the dock support beams, smashing against the moss and barnacles. The policeman turned on his flashlight, when he looked at the dock and saw...

...Blood.

Everywhere.

A pool of blood lay just before the picture and note and apple, then trailed further down the dock, oozing over the boards... it came to the side, covering the guardrail, dripping rhythmically down to the waters below. The officer swallowed nervously and looked at the water. The blood was still warm; Sonic could still be down there... The officer jumped off the side, plunging into the water below, his flashlight at the ready.

Sonic was unconscious; he still partially floated a few feet below the surface, the waves kept pushing him down. Blood oozed steadily from the wound, it polluted the surrounding color, and the smooth celadon of the ocean was diluted by the harsh scarlet of blood. Suddenly, the rhythmic pulse of the water's surface was broken, and a silhouetted figure swam towards Sonic's limp frame. Grabbing onto the hedgehog's hand, the officer pulled Sonic to shore, hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

yeah, you don't get to read next chapter yet because you aren't reviewing FEAR! I KNOW you people are reading it. I'm only getting like two reviews a chapter that's bad. So I am herebye holding all sotries hostage untill I get like at least eight reviews. I MEAN YOU, Ri2! AND YOU TOO, SHELBY! ...Wait, you aren't suposd to be reading this, and- ...oh crap.

Nevermind, just PLEASE review. I need reviews. Or the monsters will eat my spleen.


	3. the hospital

Whoot, next chapter is here. There's going to be a large amount of Sonic-torture from now on. Shortest Authors note I've had in a while.

* * *

Sonic opened his eyes, but shut them immediately when a harsh light stung them. Sonic tried to move his hand over his eyes but found that it was very hard to do. His hand shook and moved unsteadily. But, it eventually did come to his eyes, shielding them from the bright light. Sonic moaned,only tofind that it came out as a weak whimper. Suddenly, Sonic heard what sounded like distant murmurs and the light dimmed slightly. Sonic opened his eyes and struggled to move his hand. Suddenly Sonic felt his hand pinned to his side, and a concerned voice met his ears.

"Rest up, fella. You took quite a beating there." Said the voice. Sonic then realized the pain in his stomach... He remembered the dock, Amy...

...The knife...

Sonic tried to bolt upright but he barely managed to move. He felt another hand pin him down by his shoulder and again whimpered piteously.

He was alive? No! He didn't want to be alive! What had happened? He had come so close! He had come so close to seeing Amy!

"There, there, kiddo, you gotta take it easy." Said one of the nurses. Sonic tried to struggle but found that is was so hard to move... his body wouldn't listen to him, whenever he tried to lift his arm or turn his head his whole body shuddered and twitched, and his arm would barely move! He didn't understand! It hurt so much!

He tried to shout at them, tell them to kill him, anything, but found that he couldn't. He just couldn't! He again panicked, struggling. This time two people fought to pin him down, when a voice broke harshly against the murmurs of the nurses.

"Sonic!" Shouted Tails' voice. Sonic stopped struggling, and looked over at the small yellow fox. Sonic tried to sit up, and found that he could, even if his arms felt terribly weak and unstable underneath him, and movement was slow... the doctors fought to pin him back down, and Sonic eventually gave up, allowing himself to be pushed onto his back. Tails looked down at him sadly. "Sonic... I can't believe it... you actually..." Sonic stared blankly at Tails, not understanding. "She really meant that much to you?" He asked.

_**WHAT DO YOU THINK, TAILS!**_ ****Sonic wanted to scream at him, but again his voice did not agree with him. The yellow fox reached out and took Sonic's hand.

"I- I'm sorry, buddy... I- I should have been there. I-"

Sonic couldn't take it anymore. He attempted to lash out at Tails, only managing a convulsive shudder due to his inexplicably uncontrolled movement. Tails jumped back a little, very surprised. Sonic was surprised too. He regreted lashing out like that but Tails was just driving him crazy! He didn't understand! He didn't understand anything! The blue hedgehog turned on his side and began to weep. He felt a gloved hand tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Tails again. The yellow fox stared at him for a moment, then thrust something into the blue hedgehog's hands, soon turning to leave.

Sonic stared after his best friend, confused, then looking to the object Tails had given him. Sonic gasped.

It was his favorite picture of Amy.

Sonic smiled lightly to himself, instantly forgiving Tails of everything. He did understand... sort of. The hedgehog sighed shakily and attempted to hold the picture to his chest, but it was soon torn from his hands by one of the doctors. Sonic attempted to reach out for the photo and protest, but neither his arm nor voice would agree with him. Tears welled in his eyes as the doctor looked over the photo and put it on a desk out of Sonic's reach. Sonic tried to sit up and retrieve the photo, but he was soon pinned down again. He struggled against the doctors, unsuccessfully fighting.

"Please, give it back!" Sonic wanted to say, but no sound escaped his lips. Then realization struck Sonic; and it smashed him to bits. Tears swelled in his eyes, and he looked to Amy's photo, sitting ona desk in the opposite side of the room.

He couldn't talk. He didn't know why.  
He couldn't move. He didn't know why either.  
Amy was gone.

It was as if everything had been taken away from him.

He collapsed onto the bed and sobbed.

* * *

Tails shut the door quietly behind him, barely hearing Sonic's uncontrolled wailing through the thick door. The fox looked over to Knuckles, who was standing outside the room.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked. Tails looked over at the red echidna, and began to cry silently to himself. Knuckles sighed and left the fox alone, but the two were both very sad. They had already lost one friend, Amy, and now, they could be losing another. Not in death, but...

Sonic wasn't Sonic anymore. Not without Amy.

* * *

A short little chapter made to satisfy your hunger for closure. Next chapter will come very soon. Me promise. Thank you for the reviews, I enjoy them very much, and you people are all awesome! (Free tuna for all) 


	4. the bad news

Super happy rainbow fun time chapter of doom! (Sarcastic.) Okay, I'm really sorry for the huge delay, it's really as depressing for me as it is for you, trust me. I'm sorry that it took so long, and here you go. The real plot starts forming in next chapter, and this is just some Sonic-torturing-filler. Enjoy!

**Isu- Of course I love torturing Sonic! Usually in ways that he ends up screaming, bleeding and crying like a baby. I AM SO EVIL!**

Crystal Rose- YAY! It's sad! (If you can't tell, that's what I was aiming for:) thanks for the review!

**Leeve- my suggestion: Take that stick away from Hannah. And you have a point. Even I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Sonic. Almost. MUAHAHAHAHA!**

Anachrista- Thank youz forz maniez reviewzez. You get the super evil happy cardboard fish award! And here's just something I'd like to say in order to get our super happy diabolical everyone dies now friendship off to a smashing success... –cough-emo-sucks-cough-. Please don't be offended, it's just my opinion. I think that it's too whiney, and that they all use nothing but power chords, the cheap... dastards. Heavy metal is much better. Yellow be a good color when in used in violent combinations of black and red, but mostly you're right on that one. Rap does suck. Black is a cool color. Noobish is fun to type, but the stupid prep shortcut typing is stupid. M35H 4M T3H 1337 H4XOR! Now that's noobish. Preps are stupid and terrible. Avenged sevenfold is... bad. System of a Down is good. The murder dolls are good. But not avenged sevenfold. No offense, and please don't hate me now.

Basically, we have much to talk about as long as neither of us mentions our tastes in music.

Yes, I do start all my friendships this way. You're welcome.

**To Angels624: You liar! It's not on your- oh, there it is. Sorry! My mistake! You're not a liar. O.O;**

To everyone else, ...I like raccoons! They share their rabies! (Runs around screaming)

* * *

Sonic's eyes weakly fluttered open; he had no idea when he had fallen asleep but his face was stained with tears and his shoulder hurt from his odd sleeping position. He struggled and shuddered onto his back, his uncontrolled movement hindering his progress. Finally, he collapsed onto the uncomfortable bed and breathed heavily; shocked at the effort it took to move so little. He wished he knew what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he move? Why couldn't he talk? He moaned quietly into the darkness, wishing it would all just go away... 

It was dark, and awfully lonely, however pale moonlight lit the room from the window, casting eerie shadows and giving the room a blue tint. He could see outside the open door into the empty, large hallways, menacing shadows looming across the cavernous areas. Sonic found himself frightened. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere. He wanted to die. He struggled under the stifling covers, but it was still so hard to move... besides, they probably had him on suicide watch. Not like there was anything deadly in here he could get to...

Sonic sighed. He had to figure this out; he had to calculate a plan. He was, for the time being, disabled.  
Sonic struggled and managed to sit up a little, however his arms shook and ached under his body and he nearly collapsed.

_No! Stay up! You have to!_ He told himself, looking over at his picture of Amy, the one they took away, and grimacing at the pain. There was no more time to spend crying, especially here. He had to think clearly, act clearly, and learn what was happening to him. He would start with a test... how far could he go? Sonic faltered as an inexplicable shudder passed through him, but managed to stay up, and attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed. Movement was so slow... it was so hard. Sonic would have cursed in frustration, but he finally collapsed at the pain and exhaustion, breathing heavily and emitting the only sound he could, harsh wailing moans. Due to the fact that his legs were already off of the bed, he fell to the ground and felt something in his shoulder snap as he hit the tile. Sonic gave a small shout but he realized that it was nothing serious. It felt more like relocating his arm, like the blow had knocked something back in place. Sonic shuddered again and struggled for a long time to get to his feet. The blue hedgehog finally managed to get on his hands and knees, but it was terribly difficult and his limbs shook unstably beneath him. He slowly lifted a hand to the bed for support, and tugged himself up, clinging to the metal pole that rose from the corner of the bed. Sonic opened his eyes, only now aware that he had shut them. He looked over to Amy's photo. He could reach it from here.

He reached out a shaky hand and grabbed it, soon collapsing into a nearby chair, too exhausted to try and crawl back to the bed. His entire body ached. He would have screamed if he could, but his voice shook and faltered. What should have been a simple task had nearly killed him... what was happening to him...? He sobbed, feeling childish and incapable, and quietly clutched Amy's picture to his chest, something he'd wanted to do since Tails gave it to him. Sonic opened his eyes and looked at the picture, at Amy's happy face, her green eyes... a drop of blood, from the incident at the dock, dotted the edge of the frame. Sonic rubbed it away, and stared down at the girl that meant so much to him. He just had to do something.

Sonic cried and tried to say 'Amy' but he couldn't manage the sounds. It came out as a weak mumble. He stared down at the picture, confused. Panicking, he tried again, this time a hoarse moan escaping his lips. Sonic placed a jerky hand on his throaht, letting go of the picture with one hand only to grasp it more tightly with the other. He couldn't talk. He just couldn't. Sonic sighed and placed the picture on the desk next to him; his fingers began to feel weak and he feared he might drop it. Not only was it so hard just to make any sound, but... forming the sound into words was so hard. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to mouth out the sound 'a' as in 'Amy'. He desperately wanted to say her name. It was difficult. He stammered as his voice again failed him. In frustration, he pounded a shaky fist against the table, leaving it there. What was wrong with him? He sighed and again tried to just move his lips and tongue in the way he would if he said 'Amy'. That wasn't so hard, why couldn't he apply voice to it? He desperately tried again, this time, an actual sound escaping his lips. Quiet, but actual.

"A- ...a- " Sonic sighed. It was incredibly difficult...Sonic didn't want to believe it, but.  
He really had lost his voice.  
He cried silently to himself, curling into a ball and sighing heavily. After all of the hard work to just make the sound 'a' Sonic didn't even want to try with 'm' and severely doubted he would ever be able to say anyone's name again. After the strain and effort of simply walking over to this chair Sonic knew he would never run again. He looked over at his little picture of Amy. He paused, and reached out, stroking his fingers across the picture.

"A- ...a-..." Sonic focused, and tried really hard. "A-my." he managed to mumble. He was delighted! It didn't come out quite right, and there was a weird, unintentional pause between the 'a' and 'm' sounds, but Sonic didn't care! "A-my..." he said, still looking at the picture. "A-my... " He sighed and curled up on the chair, picking up Amy's picture and again holding it to his chest. A tear fell down his cheek.

_I miss you._ He thought to himself, holding the picture.  
_I miss you too, Sonic..._ he imagined Amy saying back.  
_Will you be back soon?_ Sonic asked.  
_I'll try, Sonic. I'll try.  
_Sonic tried to be happy with that answer. He curled up inside the chair; and tried to get to sleep.  
He didn't understand everything... why he couldn't speak, why it was so hard to move. But, he did understand that Amy was gone.  
He also understood that he had succeeded. He had said Amy's name. A small feeling of accomplishment grew in his chest and for the first time in three nights, he slept without nightmares.

* * *

"He got over there by himself? That's incredible"  
"I know, doctor. He's more capable than we thought"  
"Well, he had a motive. But still, ...this could be good and bad news"  
Sonic's eyes stirred as he awoke; he heard the doctors talking about him. He wondered if, maybe, if he listened hard enough, they would say something about his condition.  
"How so sir"  
"He's suicidal! What if one day he gets up and walks over to the surgical equipment?" Said the doctor, shaking his head. "I'm afraid we'll have to restrain him"  
"What about the therapy?" the nurse asked. The doctor nodded.  
"Oh! Oh, of course he will be let out for that. We just have to keep him safe, you know"  
Sonic was uncomfortable with what they were saying. Therapy? Restrain? Sonic didn't like the sound of that. He moved slightly in the chair he sat in, and realized his gloves and shoes were gone. Were they gone before he went to get the picture? Sonic didn't remember. "What happens when his injuries are healed?" asked the nurse. "He can't stay here- who will watch him then"  
"They were going to take him to a mental institution before he came here. I assume that he'll go there. Neither of his friends have the experience needed to take care of him." Sonic was confused. He wasn't crazy. He was hurt; he did not want to live, but crazy? What exactly did the think he was going to do, kill someone? All the thoughts whirling in his head... it began to hurt. He held his head in his hands and moaned. These complicated thoughts had given him a terrible headache. That caught the doctor's attention. The brown-haired human kneeled down next to the blue hedgehog, looking him in the eye. Sonic glared back at him and flinched away, attempting to move deeper into the chair, away from this person. Sonic didn't know what to expect from them. The doctor reached out and shook Sonic's hand, smiling.

"Hello, there, Sonic the hedgehog." the doctor said. Sonic stared at him, confused. His tone of voice puzzled Sonic. It sounded like he was trying to be polite, but... his tone of voice was not unlike what a parent would use on a young child. "You aren't feeling well, are you?" he asked politely. Sonic glared. This person's kindness was not very convincing. He knew what love felt like; Amy had given him more love than anyone could rightly ask for. His friends had real kindness. This was different. This was strange. Sonic didn't know what to think of it. The doctor finally released Sonic's hand, and eyed the photo he clutched to his chest. He reached out and quickly snatched it from Sonic, looking it over. He attempted to take it back, but the nurse, who told him to calm himself, held him down. Sonic ignored her and glared at the doctor. "So this is that girl... the reason you ended up this way. I'm sorry to hear that. It's a pity." The doctor turned the photo around in his hands, looking it over carefully. Sonic scoffed under his breath. What did he expect to find? "You miss her, don't you?" the doctor asked, again using that quiet, talking-to-a-five-year-old voice. Sonic glared, and swiped a hand at the photo, attempting to grab it. However, due to his shaky movement, it did not work so well, and one almost couldn't tell he was reaching for the photo; maybe he was trying to punch the doctor. The doctor pulled Amy's picture away. "What's wrong?" he said, not understanding Sonic's actions. The hedgehog tried to say 'give it back!' but his voice... he reached for the photo, slowly this time, (it worked) and stammered the only word he knew how to say...

"A-my." Sonic half-mumbled, reaching out for the photo. "A-my." the doctor recoiled as if he had just been struck, and looked from the photo to the blue hedgehog before him in shock. He then quickly stood up, and spoke with the nurse.  
"This is good. He's making progress. Tell the nurses to give him the appropriate sedatives, and of course bring the proper restraints over here. Wouldn't want him getting into anything sharp! Hopefully he'll do well at his therapy today, and then we can get him in for a scan to see if the damage to his nervous system is really that bad. Oh, and remember to keep"  
Their words were lost on Sonic's ears, which refused to listen to what they said. Sedatives? Restraints? Damage to his nervous system ...was that why he couldn't move or speak? Sonic froze, and something clicked in his mind. Damage to nervous system... wasn't that just another way to say...

Mentally disabled?

Sonic gave out a shout and recoiled back, disbelieving. The nurse tried to calm him but Sonic refused to be silenced, he couldn't believe it! He couldn't be! How? Why? What had he done! Sonic's struggling slowed as he began to understand what had happened...

...Being underwater for so long, the... the lack of oxygen to his brain must have lead to the death of some nerve connections... making it harder to think and move and speak... but shouldn't that normally make him stupid as well? He shook his head in attempt to ease away his awful headache. He didn't understand. Apparently his thought process was fine, with the exception of awful headaches. Maybe only certain nerves were destroyed. Sonic again shook his head in disbelief and in attempt to drive out the pain. It couldn't be! He was Sonic The Hedgehog! He was supposed to be a hero, not some diseased weakling! He again lashed out in frustration, which startled the nurses, who immediately flinched away from him. The blue hedgehog barely managed to contain his tears, and blinked in a futile attempt to drive them back. He sighed shakily and looked up at the surrounding doctors.  
Now he had two reasons to die.

* * *

FRESH FROZEN FISH FIASCO! ...My brain went crazy. Moo! Yeah, Sonic's hearing voices! Just like me! REVIEW! I am tired of getting only two or three reviews each chapter. 


	5. the plan

I appologize for the lack of udates. I'm very, very, sincerely, ultimately sorry. Feel free to throw fish at me. I promise to be a little faster on the updates from now on.

And now I have over ten reviews to respond to. Let's see if I can make it before they start getting just plain lazy.

**Blueblur: Tank you for all of the reviews! They inspired me to update! And I'm talking to everyone, here! If it wasn't for all of the reviews,I sincerely wouldn't have upated! (cough-as fast!-cough) Thanks, everyone!**

Sonica the hedgefox: Glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing, and make sure to look out for updates on my other stories this week!

**Tierra: Wow. I must be getting these reviews because of the C2. Anyway, thank you for all of the reviews! I agree that it would have been kinder to haveSonic die rather than have any of this happen to him, but then again I don't have a history of being nice to Sonic, now do I?**

Crystal Roze: I'm glad that you have this story under you favorites! I guess that it is good! And yes, 'Wa Sonikku' indeed. MUAHAHA!

**Pie: Yay! This story is on your favorites! I read you bio, so I guess that means this story actually suceeds in paring Sonic up with Amy and torturing Sonic!**

Treasure: Me? Evil? Naaah! ... (cackled evilly)

**Isu: you wrock! Why? Because you do! Whoot**!

Leeve: yay! Why? Because it's ...err... pineapple day.

**Ri2: Fish!**

Phantom: Yay. I don't know how many more reviewers I can respond to.

**Electrigirl: Please keep reading, and i'll keep wrting. Yay for you!**

...I am NEVER doing that again!

* * *

"Sonic? Are you paying attention?" Asked the therapist politely, pressing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. The young man stared down at Sonic, who was taking no interest in the words and sentences he was supposed to be trying to say. The blue hedgehog stared at the ground, his thoughts blurred and uncertain. He had stopped attempting to focus his thoughts when he discovered his own disabilities. He wished that he could die on command- just wish himself away, back into Amy's arms. What was so wrong with that?

"Sonic, please... " the psychiatrist pleaded, pointing to the piece of paper that held the sounds he was supposed to by trying to say. There was short u, long u, bird, short a, long a...

Amy. Like in Amy. Sonic buried his face in his elbow and sighed shakily. There were no more tears left, and Sonic did not feel like crying.

An hour after he had woken up, he had been taken to this small room, and asked to try and pronounce the sounds and words by his therapist/psychiatrist, Mr. Phillips.

"Sonic- ...I'm sorry. I know what it's like to loose someone, okay?" The therapist declared, shaking his head, which again made his glasses fall down his nose. He pushed them back up, and stared over at the blue hedgehog. Sonic stared back up at him in return, unbelieving. How could someone so happy possibly have gone through the same experience? Sonic scoffed under his breath and looked away. Mr. Philips stared down at the hedgehog with something between pity and distress. "Amy won't be gone forever, Sonic. She would never leave you forever. You'll see her again, don't rush it. You can only make the best of the time you have left before you see her again." He explained. Sonic stared up at him with surprise. That made sense, but... could he wait that long? It hurt too much. He tried to force his memories away from the few times he had been held by Amy, had his quills petted and been sung to sleep. If his memories lingered to those innocent moments, he would be shattered when comparing it to the present.

"Now please, at least try to say these words."

It frustrated Sonic. They knew that he wasn't capable of this. Why did they ask so much? He curled up, with difficulty, and rested his face in his knees. Sonic didn't understand. Even if he could do these things, which he couldn't, what difference did it make? He would never be the same again. Amy would never come back again. He had heard the doctors, whispering, trying to make sure he didn't hear. They always said how sad it was, how he might never improve, how he would never run or talk again.

The most that could be expected from him were a few sounds and a few motions. It's what they all said.

Sonic wished that he didn't believe them. Sonic wished that there were some simple way to end all of his problems. But there wasn't...

...Or was there?

Sonic looked around the room. He had no way to injure himself in this place to the extent of death. He sighed shakily and looked to the letters. Why did this happen to him? What had he done besides loving someone? Besides missing someone? Was that so wrong?

Couldn't they just let him die?

He began to question every value and heroic ambition that had ever been adopted into his heart. They were nothing but fantasy now, half-baked dreams about sunshine and perfection in a world that was anything but. This wouldn't have happened to him if he hadn't burrowed himself into those illusions of fame, glory and heroism.

He was sick of being a hero.

"Sonic!" The man nearly shouted, startling Sonic from his trance of self-pity. "You brought this upon yourself because you didn't want to live. Obviously, it was not your time!" He argued. Sonic was surprised. Was that true? Was it more than a cruel action of god, more than just an outlet of the fates' frustration? "Now you can either accept that, try to understand that it means you lived for a specific reason; that there's something left for you to do, or keep moping like a pathetic infant!" He nearly snapped.

Sonic, in his weak emotional state, cried slightly at the person's harsh tone. But he pondered their words. Was that true? Did all this happen for a reason? Was he meant to live? And if so, for what? What was there left to live for? He certainly couldn't fight Eggman anymore...

...What else was there? After Amy was dead?

He stared up at the psychiatrist with is tear-blurred eyes, and nodded as best as he could to verify he partially understood. Mr. Phillips sighed in relief and sunk back into his chair, again pushing up his glasses.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I was just sick of seeing a person like you... Sonic the hedgehog... moping like that. I had to snap you out of it." He explained. Sonic nodded, loosening some more tears, which rolled down his cheek and neck. The therapist sighed and gave Sonic a pat on the shoulder, then holding up one of the flash cards.

"Just try, Sonic. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sonic looked up at the card.

"B- bir-" Sonic struggled with the new sounds, staring up at the clearly labeled 'bird'. Why was it so hard! Why had this happened to him! He broke down, and continuously sobbed. " ...A-Amy!"

Phillips sighed in pity, but could not drive himself to be angry at the hedgehog. At least he had tried.

"There there. It'll get easier, just give it some time."

Sonic's sobbing continued, but inside, he made a decision.

He would try harder from now on.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead...

"I'm really uneasy about it. It's terrible, and it happened so easily. What's stopping something like that from happening to us?" Knuckles said, munching on a banana. Hey, he likes fruit, right? What's wrong with that?

"Of course it's terrible. Its Sonic. You know how he is... he loves to run, he loves to be free, he loves to be with Amy... he can't do anything anymore." Tails pouted. "What horrid god would do this to him? He didn't deserve any of this." The young kitsune stammered, hands trembling.

"There is no god, Tails." Growled Shadow. "And this is proof. If there was a god, Amy wouldn't be dead and Sonic wouldn't be hurt. It's that simple."

"It's not simple at all!" Knuckles argued. "There were a thousand factors that lead to what happened. Maybe if sonic didn't go on the mission? Maybe if Eggman hadn't made the bomb? Maybe if Amy had survived, then-"

"Whoa, Whoa... Say that again." Said Tails, standing up and looking rather excited, like he suddenly got an idea. Knuckles stared at him oddly.

"There were a thousand-"

"After that!" Tails said, running to grab his coat. Knuckles looked to the ground, then at Shadow, confused. The black hedgehog shrugged as to verify that he had no clue either.

"Maybe if Amy had survived, the-" Knuckles and Shadow's eyes widened, and then they looked over at tails in shock " ...Tails!" Knuckles shouted as the young kitsune started out the door. He quickly turned back and said to his comrades,

"I have an idea!"

* * *

The truth is out! ..Or is it?

"Yes, it is."

Oh. Okay then. Tails has a plan. What kind of plan is it? Does anyone care? Will I get more than 14 reviews for next chapter? Tune in next time or I'll go even insaner!

"That's not a word."

Oh, shut up, Shadow!


	6. the horror

Sonica & levee: O.O! You- you guessed it! ...Well I guess it was kind of obvious. I feel compelled to congratulate you, but on the other hand you ruined two entire chapters of plot. Err... thanks a lot? You're a genius? I'm not sure as to what I'm supposed to say in this moment.

**Crystal: ..Well, guess some know me better than others. (sweatdrops) Levee and Sonica guessed it right away, but... oh well.**

Max: Heh heh... yeah, you're right, but then again if I cared about the fangirls I wouldn't have written this! The Sonic fangirls would rip out my spleen if I let them! Besides, what's the worst they could do? _Hug_ me to death? Please.

**Interesting: Yes, very sad. However, I take great joy in Sonic's torture. (squeals faintly at concept of Sonic bleeding to death.)**

Isu: Ah, yes, my friend, I am compelled to quote here: "there are much worse things than death." Now why would I kill Sonic when he recieves so much more pain while alive? (grins evilly)

**Star the hero chao: Oh, no most certianly not! ..or DO I...?**

(Shadow Whacks komodo with stick)"OW! What the- oh you're a dead man, Shadow!"

"You'll never catch me alive!" shadow yelled, running away.

"That's the point!"

And thusly Komodo chased after Shadow with a rifle.

"I guess not everyone can weild the mighty forces of the stick." Hannah announced proudly.

"That sounded _so_ wrong..." Commented Levee, who just so happned to be standing next to her.

"What the hell are we doing in komodo's fanfiction?"

"I don't know... "

"EXCELCIOR!" shouted Bill gates, running across the screen.

...I HAVE to stop doing that...

Anyway, on to other matters... I just went to the most awesome place. Deviantart! It's got great Sonamy fanart. If anyone here is a sonamy junkie (like myself) they MUST check it out!

* * *

Tails ran to the nearby museum, Knuckles and Shadow following in utter confusion. They had no idea as to what Tails was doing, and, in all honesty, neither did Tails. The young kitsune had merely heard the words 'if Amy had survived, then' and understood exactly what needed to be done.

Sonic needed Amy. He needed her like a young child needed its mother, like the ocean needed the land. They could not bring Sonic to Amy. So, Tails decided, they needed to bring Amy to Sonic. At first it was a question of how. Amy was dead. What could change that? Then it had struck Tails much like a baseball bat to the head. And now here he was, running towards Sonic's salvation.

"Tails!" Knuckles complained, panting as he sprinted up the museum steps to follow Tails. Shadow walked. "Where in the nine hells are we going?" The red echidna questioned, obviously set in a bad mood by Tails' silence. The fox looked behind him and slowed, stopping at the museum doors and waiting for the two panting adults to reach him.

"Okay, Okay, you remember, waaay back, to one of eggman's very first plots?" Tails asked, jumping around with enthusiasm. Knuckles shrugged, and Shadow shook his head. Tails gaped at them in disbelief. "Oh come on! The time stones? ...Never mind. Anyway, after they were-"

"Wait, I thought that someone destroyed the time stones so that they could never wreck havoc again?" Knuckles said. Tails nodded.

"Partially. They were destroyed only in that instant of time; meaning the time stones would never function within the day that they were destroyed. You can guess how frustrated the government was after they showed back up again."

"Tails! Get to the point!"

"Oh! Sorry! Anyway, they were taken to this museum. We can get access to them, and, if we use them to go back in time to five days ago..." Tails explained, as Knuckles and Shadow's eyes grew wide with understanding and the tree, although Shockingly OOC of them, were thrown into a spat of high-fives and cheering, at which they caught the attention of the security guards. But that comes later.

Sonic stared down at his plate of food, which had been brought to him by one of the nurses. He glared at it. They expected him to eat? Eating meant living. Living meant hurting. Sonic pushed the plate away, and glared at the floor, ignoring his stomach's cries of pain, for he had not eaten for _five days_. He was only alive to begin with because of the I.V. drip used when he was unconscious, operating on his stab wound. He would succeed this time; he would kill himself by starvation. Phillip's words had held new meaning for him at first, as in maybe he had lived for a reason, but then he realized that would have meant that Amy died for a reason, and if that was so, he didn't care what god's reasons were. It didn't matter.

About an hour ago they had done all the necessary 'tests' and 'scans' to tell him what he already knew; the nerve connection to his entire body had been disabled. They had just realized that his thought process was fine, and were quite astonished with that. Sonic chuckled darkly to himself, to the best of his ability. He would be lucky to become a brain dead vegetable. Maybe if he had stayed under a little longer he would have lost some of his memories of Amy... maybe forgotten her entirely... maybe then he could move on. He eyed the nearby sink. All he would have to do was go over there, inhale a little water... they'd show up in ten minutes to pick up the remainders of his dinner and be too late. Too late to save him this time. Half of his soul grinned at the prospect, while the other half screamed for Amy's love.

He just started to climb off of the bed and attempt to balance on his weak and shaky legs when suddenly the door opened and the doctor and some nurses entered the room, Mr. Phillips walking behind them. Sonic collapsed back into the bed, frustrated that he had been caught. Mr. Phillips stared at him oddly, but the doctor and nurses had given it relatively no notice.

"Well hello, there, Sonic. How are you doing?" The doctor asked in that fake tone of kindness. Sonic glared and tried to move farther away, growing nervous as he saw the unhappy looks on Mr. Phillip and the nurses' faces. The doctor took out something that looked like oversized handcuffs and set them on to the table next to him. Sonic stared at them in terror. What was that? The doctor pulled a couple of the nurses aside and talked to them, setting various equipment on the table. Sonic's breathing quickened. What were they going to do to him? Mr. Phillips walked up to him, and was about to start talking, but then saw his plate of food. He looked to the clock, and then back at Sonic, confused.

"...Sonic, you need to eat. Aren't you starving?" he asked, gesturing to the plate. At first Sonic looked up at him, but his attention was again snapped back to the doctor and nurses as he took out a needle, and handed it to the nearest nurse, soon afterward pointing to Sonic. The blue hedgehog froze. He hated needles. What was going on? He panicked. He wanted Amy. But she was gone. Mr. Phillips looked in the direction that caused Sonic so much terror, and saw the nurse with the needle.

"Now, now, that won't be necessary. Look at him, you're scaring him to death!" Mr. Phillips protested. The young man (the nurse- men can be nurses too!) Exchanged confused looks between the doctor and the therapist. The doctor dismissed Mr. Phillip's comment with a wave of his hand and the nurse again headed towards Sonic with the needle. The little blue hedgehog attempted to shy away but he couldn't move correctly and even as he attempted to whimper out some form of protest the nurse ignored him and gently inserted the needle into his forearm. Sonic shuddered and attempted to jerk away but it stung terribly and he eventually lay still; too afraid of the pain.

He wasn't sick. He didn't need to be here. The nurse Carefully took the needle out of his arm, and disposed of it before going back to the doctor. Sonic whimpered. He wasn't sick. He wanted to go home.

"Really, Sir, I don't think this is necessary, just today I got a response from him and I really don't think-"

"You see that scar on his stomach! He stabbed himself! What makes you think he wouldn't do it again?" The doctor protested. More nurses neared Sonic with the over-sized handcuffs, which made Sonic attempt to squirm out of their reach, but fail miserably as he felt himself grow weak and numb from whatever had been injected into his arm. The nurses, not put off by Sonic's misery, quickly, (and not very gently) applied the handcuffs to Sonic's wrists and ankles. The little blue hedgehog cried. He felt hopeless and incapable, and now he felt like a prisoner. A prisoner of these four white walls, a prisoner of his own body! But mostly, a prisoner to his misery...

They would not let him die. He would not let himself live. It was a hopeless cycle of pain.

"You have to understand that if we don't restrain him and keep him drugged then we risk him hurting himself or those around him."

"I- ...I understand."

"Good."

Sonic's eyelids grew heavy and he fell asleep before he could hear the rest of their conversation.

* * *

Ahh, again I get into the bad habit of going off into a serious and emotional scene and then spoil it with some witty banter. Heh heh. I'm such a moron.

Arg! It's terrible. I really want to draw some big, passionate Sonamy thing for my upcoming website -and to dedicate to the ending scene of this fic- (I know you're all looking forward to both.) but I have no idea what to do. **_Please_** give your suggestions! Some really nice Sonamy scene to draw!

The chapter was too short, wasn't it? Don't worry; next chap will be up very soon!

And Levee, how would you feel about doing a 'round-robin' story with me and Zozma? She'll write the first chapter, I'll write the second chapter, you'll write the third chapter, and we can all post it on our accounts!


	7. the short chapter

Levee: Yay! ...Personally I'm not much of a Harry potter fan, I mean sure it's okay, and the movies were fun, I'm just not really insane about it. Also, I think that the time stones were like this one time-travel thing used by Eggman in one of the earlier games, although I'm not sure. I really don't know that much. I'm actually assuming a lot about them myself. I was never really into the old Sonic games or comics. I think I was like three at the time.

Blueblur: YAY! You're back! Thank you for the review. It gave me this nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. like a puppy in a microwave. KESPLODE! ...Ahh, straight from hallmark. Thank you, that was very encouraging. And, as for the fire... Blueblur, you just gave me the greatest idea. I needed a plot-twist for next chapter and that's perfect! Now excuse me while I twist and plagiarize your words... (yeah, you heard me, it's payback time! -grins evilly-) ...and I feel terrible about what's happening to your stories. I tried to e-mail you this big, uplifting speech, but then my e-mail went all crazy on me! It had a _knife_! What was I supposed to do? Please accept this burrito in my apology. (hands you a burrito)

Max: ..hmm.. you have a good point there. But, they being fan-GIRLS and me being a CHICK, I severely doubt they would hug me. And if they did, I'd be rather disturbed. However, your point prevails and I succumb to your excellence. Happy now? You've made me grovel.

Lacey: No! _I_ must be the number one sonamy fan! (tackles you to ground and cuts title out of your anonymous signature with rusty butcher knife.)

"Do all of your solutions end in rusty butcher knives?" Asked a very annoyed Shadow.

"For the last time YES! STOP ASKING!" Komodo answered, butcher knife in hand.

Isu: Yay! Deep! So deep that a seven-foot man could drown in it's deepness? I'M NOT SATISFIED UNTIL THIS FIC IS SEVEN FEET DEEP!

"That's like half of a dominoes deep-dish pizza!" commented Shadow.

"I know! How are you supposed to eat those things?" I agreed. The two of us nod in agreement and wander off into a thorough discussion about pizza...

"I like a da pizza!" Mario announced proudly.

"It's a-me! Espio!"

"..Okay, this is getting weird. HURRY UP! SOMEONE ELSE REVIEW!" komodo exclaimed.

Sadly, no one reviewed in time, and komodo posted the chapter, now forced to put up with a ninja who thinks he's Italian, a hedgehog who wants to sue dominoes, and a weird plumber in overalls who won't leave. Seriously, he just stands there and every so often says "It's a-me, Mario!" Or fiddles with his hat. Komodo is now starting to suspect that the great gamer in the sky has decided to take a nap without turning off Mario64...

* * *

Mr. Phillips stared sadly down at the hedgehog, who was wrestling with nightmares in his drug-influenced sleep. Sonic made a brief noise; somewhere between a shout and a whimper; a signal of his distress. His body cringed at the effort of moving normally, and sweat beaded down his face. The therapist was depressed to see people like this. He had seen cases of depression, where a loved one had died, where the husband or wife or brother or sister or... in Sonic's case, boyfriend had grown so heartbroken that they refused to cope. But Sonic's case was different.

This wasn't love like most people were used to seeing it. Sonic's love for Amy was strong and just as passionate as anyone else, but, it was very contradictory to his personality. And here is the reason why.

He wanted love to be like this; Someone who would hold him, comfort him, sing him to sleep, stroke his quills, take care of him, treat him like a child, kiss him on the cheek and whisper something kind into his ear. He was strong; very strong, and he enjoyed fighting Eggman and all, but...

From what Mr. Phillips had heard, Sonic was never quite able to have a normal childhood. Abandoned on the doorstep of a young couple by his real mother after two weeks of birth, he was left with nothing but a note, saying that his name was Sonic. Not even a blanket to keep him warm. He was abandoned, again, by the couple, (who did not want him.) and sent from foster home to foster home, every time being given back to the orphanage after the couple realized they didn't want him. At age six he got sick of it and ran away, never having a home again. The rest of his life you already know; it was then spent fighting Dr.Eggman once he showed up. At such a young age! How terrible! He never had parents that truly loved him. He never had a childhood where he could cling to his mother during the thunderstorms or cry into someone's shoulder. In his entire life he had never had a father to watch over him and play with him. (Ooh, what a messy paragraph! X l. I feel terrible. And excuse me for the horrible corny emotional crap. )

Sonic wanted Amy's love to supply the parental love he had never received.

The therapist sighed, and left the room, wondering if maybe death _would_ be a better option for Sonic. He stopped after seeing a nurse headed towards Sonic's room, and tapped the hospital employee on the shoulder.

"Tell me when he wakes up, okay? I'd like to talk to him."

* * *

"Okay, remind me again, how does this work?" Asked Knuckles, staring down at the time stones. They were not nearly as lustrous as the chaos emeralds, and their shapes were odd and lumpy, like broken quartz.

"You go back to the instant Amy died, then time warp her back here." Tails explained. "I wish we could time warp her to before Sonic's... accident, but then you'd be trapped in a sick time warp for all of eternity!" Tail exclaimed, hysteric. Knuckles starred down at him, eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked. Tails cleared his throat and began to elaborate.

"Well, for example, let's say that you transported you and Amy back to five minutes before you go back now. Amy would disappear because you hadn't gone back to get her yet, and the time stones would disappear because you already have them. Then you'd have to go back and get her again, then you'd show up again and she'd disappear again, and so on and so forth, resulting in a cruel time-warp that will carry on for all of eternity!" The fox exclaimed. Knuckles swallowed nervously.

"That does sound bad."

"That's only because it is. Now I've developed a mechanism to control the time stones more efficiently- sometimes they can be rather random without the right equipment." Tails said, taking out a small device from his pocket and attaching it to the time-stones with the greatest scientific invention ever; duct tape. "Basically, we've made a time machine, fellows."

"That's impossible. Einstein disproved the possibility of a time machine before any of us were born!" Shadow argued "or invented by the use of DNA altering and such. Which only applies to me, but who cares."

"THIS IS NOT A FUNNY STORY!" Argued komodo, striking Shadow upside the head with a purple trout.

The three paused in confusion, and then decided to cut all humor from future dialogue in order to serve the depressing and morbid tone of the story's narration.

"Tails? Are you sure this is... safe?" Asked Knuckles, staring down at the lightly glowing stones. Tails stared expressionlessly up at the red echidna.

"It's much safer than leaving Sonic all alone." Tails said. Shadow nodded quietly.

"True. When I lost Maria, I seriously thought I would never be happy again, but Sonic loved her in ways that even me and Maria did not share. I cannot imagine the pain he is going through now." The black hedgehog mused, leaving the others to their own conclusions.

"So I guess this means it has to be done, right?" Knuckles asked expressionlessly. The others nodded, and Knuckles took the time stones up in his hands. "Okay then. Let's do this. For Sonic, and for Amy."

"Right." Answered Tails, quickly pushing some buttons on the 'time-machine' and handing it to Knuckles. The device secured neatly to his arm with the use of Velcro, and knuckles looked over it admiringly. "Whatever you do, don't loose that." The fox warned; taking a few steps back from the echidna as the device began to make a small hum. The echidna braced for a small explosion, a swirl of lights, anything, but the machine just kept humming.

"See you in 20 minutes, Knuckles." Tails said, as the machine finally gave ff a tiny flash of light, and Knuckles was gone. Shadow, although he had been expecting it, jumped in surprise.

"...So he's really gone back to five days ago?"

"Yes." Answered Tails. "And now all we can do is wait."

* * *

I'm VERY sorry for the update delay. I just haven't been feeling it. I missed typing as much as you do and am proud to announce that the fire has been relit! ...For this story, anyway. I've been so tired and typing was so hard for some reason. Not to mention that my computer, whom which I love, has been acting funny. ...My poor, poor, computer. 


	8. the mistake

There will come a time when you are weak.

There will come a time when you will cry.

When that time comes, you are more than welcome in my arms.

-Amy Rose.

* * *

Knuckles collapsed to the ground after what had seemed to be half an eternity of strange, swirling brightness... it had been the single most memorable thing in his entire life, time-traveling. 

It had been as if he was surrounded with swirling lights of every color and no color at all. It was dark, and at the same time terribly bright. Loud, but silent. It was all very confusing and had left the echidna rather dazed. He looked down to the clock on the time machine. Yep, exactly as it was supposed to be. The exact second of the exact day of the blast. He looked around, not surprised as he saw the world frozen in time around him. Dewdrops hovered in mid-air, birds stayed suspended in the sky, clouds stood absolutely still... (BLARG! Okay I know I'm going against every law of physics/time ever made but I'm too lazy to think of anything so just leave me alone!) He looked to his left, through the dense jungle, and saw the gleaming shell of eggman's base. The sight of it sent a shiver through his spine- this was supposed to be rubble. He briefly had to remind himself he had gone back in time to five days ago. Knuckles started walking towards the base, but it was somewhat odd considering how stiff the grass felt beneath his feet. Nonetheless, the red echidna kept going, and eventually made his way inside the base.

He walked through the barren halls, trying to remember where Amy was, when he took a turn- and ended up starring strait down the barrel of a series E gun-arm. Knuckles shouted in surprise and went into a battle stance, but froze when he realized that the robot was frozen in place- frozen in time, more like it. Knuckles chuckled nervously and sidestepped it, continuing down the hall.

He made a left turn and began to enter a long, metallic hallway, when he saw something red and gleaming at the end. Curious, he ran to the end of the tunnel, and stopped before the red surface. It gave of a hot, bright aura, and was somewhat round, protruding outwards like a wall into the hallway. Knuckles gently poked it, but gave a yelp and pulled back his finger. That was hot! He stared at it, dumbfounded, and then realized-

"It's the explosion!" He exclaimed, staring at it. He poked it again, (ow!) just to be sure, and then decided he could follow it to where Amy was.

Knuckles kept walking, and finally arrived at his destination, the solid steel door that Fliara had described as where she had found Sonic. He took a deep breath, knowing that Amy was on the other side, and lifted up the gate.

It was surprisingly easy, he had expected it to be quite heavier, but it moved slowly. This didn't concern the red echidna, and he sighed in relief when the door finally slowed to a halt, suspended off the ground a good five feet or so. Knuckles easily slipped under it, but froze at the site before him.

Once again he was staring down the gun barrels of many of eggman's robots, and at first he jumped, but what was even more surprising was the faint glow of the explosion a few meters off. He swallowed nervously, feeling the heat on his face. He wondered, for a second, why Tails had to cut it so close- but the fox had argued that- 'to make as little difference as possible' - would be the best way to conserve the space- time- continuum. The echidna tuned around, and stared down at Amy Rose, a little startled by what he saw.

She lay on the ground, multiple bullets buried into her arm and two on her legs- Knuckles gasped and starred back and forth between the robots and the hedgehog. Amy must have been shot many times before the blast went off- the robots had simply outnumbered her. Knuckles took a closer look at her wounds and thanked god when he found none that were fatal, he knew he had to make this quick, so he picked up Amy, slung her over his shoulder and looked to the time-travel device on his wrist. He looked upon the many buttons and displays, at first confused, trying to remember which one Tails had told him to push at this point. Suddenly, remembering, he found the necessary green button and pushed it, firming his grip on Amy just to be safe and bracing as the machine once again made it's trademark hum and sent the two into a mess of swirling lights and noise.

Knuckles had to smile.

_Hold on, Sonic. Amy's coming for you.

* * *

_

Sonic's eyes fluttered open as he was slowly released from the oppressive tranquilizers that had been forced into his bloodstream. For a second, the release from the horrid nightmares was a relief but it was quickly mauled by the bitter reality that had been waiting for him while he slept; Amy was gone. There were no warm arms to comfort him at the end of these dreams. There was nothing but a white room, a hard bed and the consistent pain of his weakened limbs. His muscles ached merely from the stress of keeping himself alive. The pain had nearly drowned out all memories of Amy; sleeping in her arms, listening to her heartbeat, pressing his muzzle into her fur... without those memories, Sonic found that his own sanity was slipping through his fingers.

He closed his eyes, preferring the nightmares to the pain, but his attempts at sleep were interrupted when he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"Good morning, Sonic." Said Mr. Phillips, digging through his pocket in search of something. "...Did you sleep well?" He asked. Sonic stared up at him. Was that some sort of joke? He shook his head weakly, and stared up at the psychiatrist in bitter disbelief. Phillips pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, and stared down at the hedgehog as he took out a white-colored key, and unlocked the restraining cuffs around Sonic's wrists and ankles. He then helped the hedgehog stand upright, and slowly but steadily make his way over to the door. Sonic, confused, stared up at the psychiatrist, and struggled to keep up, even if it partially hurt. Mr. Phillips opened the door, and helped Sonic into what appeared to be a wheelchair. Sonic was horrified; of course he already knew what had happened to him but this didn't blur the knife-edge of reality. He starred up at the doctor with misty eyes, still not understanding and trying to get the message that this hurt. He was the fastest thing alive; he didn't need a wheelchair! ...Or that's what Sonic would have liked to think. He fought back tears and frustration, and stared up at the psychiatrist, confused. Mr. Phillips began to explain.

"I thought you might like to go outside. You need to get some exercise if you want to get any stronger, and it is quite stuffy in here..." He explained. Sonic's eyes lit up.The thought of sunshineand the soft carress of grass sounded very appealing.Mr. Phillips was about to say something else, but suddenly someone burst into the hallway, and ran over to the two. Sonic stared up at this new person, startled, and was also surprised when the doctor appeared behind him as well.

"Hello, Mr. Phillips." He said, gesturing to the strange, new person. "This is the representative of the institution that Sonic is going to. He was released to them five minutes ago, and, he's here to pick the patient up."

* * *

20 minutes later, Tails and shadow stood at the entrance to the museum, looking back and forth between the clock and each other in disbelief. Shadow glared at the fox, and demanded: 

"Where is he, Tails?"

"I don't know!" The fox claimed, shaking his head and pacing. "He should be here, right now! He should be here, Amy should be here!" The fox was nearly hysterical, and Shadow wasn't too happy either.

"What do you mean you don't know? You invented that thing; you know how it works! What could have gone wrong?"

"I don't know!" The young kitsune shouted, shaking his head and sitting down. "They should be here... right now... " Shadow stared down at the fox in disbelief, and then his gaze turned into a harsh glare.

"You lost them." Shadow growled. "First Amy. Then Sonic. Now Knuckles... " The black hedgehog said. "Who's next, then, bud? Cream? Espio?"

"I am not the cause of their death!"

"So you admit it! Knuckles is dead!"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!" Tails yelled. "I- ...I don't know... but... they aren't dead... they just aren't..." Tails moped, resting his head in his hands.

"Then where are they?"

"Tails, where are they?"

* * *

Indeed. Knuckles and Amy are missing. Sonic is no longer issued to the care of Mr. Phillips. Amy is injured! Figure out what happens by tuning in next week! (or just send me a lot of REALLY pathetic reviewsbegging me to tell you.) 


	9. the week passes slowly

Fare thee well  
My own true love  
Farewell for a while  
I'm going away  
But Ill be back  
Though I go 10,000 miles

10,000 miles  
My own true love  
10,000 miles or more  
The rocks may melt  
And the seas may burn  
If I should not return

-Amy.

A verse from _10,00 miles_, a song by... some... person... Mary Chapin, I think. Credit goes to her; I'm not breaking rules. It was used in that one movie, with the geese. I loved that movie... (sniff) Anyway that's the theme of this chapter, I suggest finding it and listening to it, or just watching fly_ away home, _the movie about the geese. GEESE! MUAHAHAHAHA!

I finally figured out the perfect title, theme and song for this fic. (Grin). Yes, yes, I'm bad; this fic has a song. Anyway, here are my responses to your lovely reviews. Your ELEVEN lovely reviews. (Grin)

Max: yes, I love a PC. GOT A PROBLEM? Loads shotgun OO... (Sweat drop) just kidding there. Anyway thanks for all the supporting reviews, which were great! (Grin)

Blue blur: Ah, yes, the plot-twist... it will be there, and it WILL be awesome, there will just be a LITTLE delay. First I have to get sonic over the terrible, heartless institution of doom, and then I have to have him break down into a moderate level of insanity, and THEN I have to write a scene for Tails and Shadow. Anyway it's really great that you're posting your stories back up that's awesome! I missed ya!

Levee: ...well, actually that WAS chapter 8 --. Oh well, I knew what you meant. And by the way, don't reward hedgehogs with cookies... they go a little nuts... (Staring confusedly up at shadow, who is swinging from the chandelier like a monkey, and screaming things I'm sure you'd rather not hear...) I would reward them with. Umm... hmm... let me think, here...

"Giving back Amy and stop making me suffer!" Suggested a tearful Sonic.

Hmm... Naah. Maybe in chapter 10.

blurbgirl: ..Yes, yes I am. To balance it off, however, I have no social skills, have a tragic fear of UPS, and can't eat chicken anymore... ...you don't wanna know.

Fading hopes: Wow! Thanks! Sorry I made your heart heavy, though. Drink some red bull. Or put marshmellows in the blender.

anonymous: You demanded it, here it is.

Karen: The puppy eyes! They burn!I must type now!

Jedi wanda:Yeah, I agree that all my reviews sound similiar, but that's what you get when you stumble across agroup of Sonic torturers. Thanks for the review, it was really great!

Isu: um... you wrock! ...hey, give me a break, I've responded to 9 reviews already.

BTS: Whoo. yeah. thanks for the review!

Tierra: WHOOP! I'll be sure to update next chapter as soon as possible.

* * *

Knuckles collapsed to the ground once again, and would have lay there, panting for quite some time, when a shout awoke him from his par-time-travel trance. He immediately looked to his left, to see Amy bolt upright a few feet away, gasping for breath and looking around in confusion and shock while cradling her injured limbs close to her side. Finally the pink hedgehog noticed the red echidna, and began to calm down. 

"Knuckles! Where am -" The hedgehog asked briefly, before she froze in her tracks and her eyes grew wide. "Sonic!" She shouted, looking around frantically. She tried to stand, but stumbled. "Knuckles, is he-"

"Sonic's fine." Knuckles lied, wanting Amy to calm down so that he could explain this to her. The pink hedgehog stared up at him, her eyes penetrating. Knuckles realized that she did not believe him. "Sonic's just fine; you saved him, Amy." Knuckles repeated. Amy stared up at him, wordless, before averting her eyes to the ground. Knuckles saw the faint gleam of tears-nothing but faint mist but a fraction of a tear nonetheless.

"Are you sure?" She asked quietly, panic hidden in her voice as she gave something between a sigh of weariness and relief. Knuckles nodded an image of Sonic lying in the hospital bed running through his mind. He froze, thinking over his actions. Knuckles shook his head. He couldn't lie to her.

"He will be. Now that' you're back... " Knuckles paused to get her attention. "Sonic will be fine." Amy at first relaxed, but then paused as something didn't click.

"... Now that I'm ba-" She grew silent, and finally looked back up at Knuckles. "Knuckles, how am I alive? Where am I? Knuckles, what' going on-" Amy began to ask, when Knuckles held up a hand and removed the time-travel device attached to his wrist. Amy stared up at him, confused. Knuckles sighed.

"I think I should do some explaining."

Then, leaving out the parts concerning Sonic, (he didn't want Amy to know that quite yet) Knuckles explained everything. He often had to pause as Amy would either need a moment to rest due to her injuries or the concept of death and time-travel would simply overwhelm her. As he explained the past events to Amy, Knuckles couldn't help but devote a small pocket of his mind to why he couldn't just tell her now. He finally discovered his answer. It would be too much for Amy, for anyone, when added to the already big plate of disturbing facts that had been dumped upon her. Besides, if she knew Sonic was hurt, she wouldn't take any time to go to a doctor- and her wounds needed to be looked at. Sonic had waited five days; he could wait another 30 minutes.

Amy listened intentfuly when she could, but every so often would ask about Sonic. Knuckles stressed that he would get to that later. And so Amy listened, learning about the plan with the time stones and going to find her. Meanwhile she occasionally winced in pain and held her injured arm to her side, Knuckles took notice and took out the chaos emerald he had brought with him, his tale concluded.

"I'm going to chaos control you to a hospital. They'll take care of your wounds. We'll talk about Sonic there." Knuckles said. Amy glared.

"Why can't we talk about Sonic here?" Amy asked. Knuckles, knowing he was caught, stared up at Amy. The pink hedgehog sighed as one of those tears finally escaped her misty eyes. "Sonic isn't fine, is he?" She asked, and Knuckles stared at her blankly, out of words. "Is he, Knuckles?"

"No." he answered truthfully. "But he _will_ be." Knuckles said. He took the hedgehog's hand. "We'll talk about him. Just not now. Let's get you to a hospita-"

Knuckles froze. He looked around; confused, suddenly realizing what was wrong.

"What's wrong, Knuckles."

"It's dark." He said. "It shouldn't be dark, it's supposed to be 2:30. It shouldn't be dark." Knuckles stammered, standing up and looking around, frantic. Amy, worried, sat where she was and stared after the red echidna.

'Knuckles, what's going on?" She demanded. The red echidna paused, rubbed his temples and looked around. They were right _where_ they were supposed to be, on the steps of the museum. He looked up at the clock. 2:30.

_2:30 AM. Knuckles thought to himself, looking around. He froze... Did this mean that they were transported to the morning of the day he went back? He inhaled sharply, remembering the time warp Tails had mentioned. He quickly looked to Amy, who was still there, and then to the time stones, which were still there. No, that was not the case. But what day was it? He noticed a newspaper booth, and went over and grabbed one of the papers. He quickly read the date, then went rigid in shock, and promptly swore. Amy jumped, surprised._

"What's wrong?" She demanded. Knuckles turned to her.

"We're a week late." He said.

_At that moment, lots of things were going through Knuckles' mind. Was Sonic still okay? What had happened while they were gone? Would everything still work? He didn't know for sure, but all he knew was that Amy needed medical attention quickly and then she needed to be told about Sonic. Everything. And he would tell her, he and Tails and Shadow, and then Sonic would be okay, because Amy would come for him..._

_Knuckles prayed that this was how it would happen._

_

* * *

_

Seven days ago.

* * *

"What do you mean?" Asked Mr. Phillips. "I was never informed that he-" 

"That's because no one told you, Phillips." Answered the doctor. "Now, if you please, He would like to take sonic to the mental institution now." The doctor said, gesturing to the representative. The therapist glanced between the two, then over at Sonic, who looked confused and heartbroken. He sighed.

"I was just going to take him outside for his therapy-"

"His therapy is no longer or your concern. He's now issued to the institution's care. His wounds are healed." The doctor explained. Phillips sighed and stared at the representative...

The little blue hedgehog, Sonic, had grown on him during his stay at the hospital. And he had seen how the doctor misinterpreted things and put Sonic through more pain than necessary. What if, by some chance, the doctors at the institution were the same way? What if their antics only proved to further crush Sonic into his misery? Mr. Phillips stepped up to the doctor, and said firmly:

"I want to see him off on his first day." The therapist implied. Although his tone was not harsh in anyway, the two men were taken back, something about the determination or tone or whatever the hell it's called in Phillips' voice just seemed to eek the voice of reason and the doctor could only respond-

"...Sure."

At first Sonic struggled against the representative- it was obvious that Sonic did not wish to go to whatever horrid place they were taking him- and Mr. Phillips could not help but agree with him. But soon enough the sedatives were injected into Sonic's forearm (despite the hedgehog' struggling) and soon he fell asleep, and was carted over to the van that would probably take him to his doom.

---

Sonic felt a shudder pass through his body as he entered the building. He was awake now, and they had just entered the institution. On the outside, it looked like any normal house. Big, yes, but normal...

But on the inside...

It was just like the hospital. It was all white, and silent, and sanitized, and... scary. He saw many people lying motionless, staring expressionlessly into the air around them, their eyes hollow. He shuddered. They looked like machines. Was that what he would have become if he had stayed under longer? Sonic did not want to know. He quickly looked away, his heart aching for answers to questions he didn't even have yet. He ached to run, to run away from this terrible place and feel the wind through his quills, run until it felt like his lungs would burst, and then collapse into the soft grass, and sleep off his exhaustion. And he waned Amy to be there to watch over him during it all. Sonic thought about the 'institution'.

It was a lie. Like a trap. It tried to calm down it's victim with it's normal appearance, but on the inside, it was the same white, tiled-floor poison that had been force-fed to him since the day he jumped off the dock. It was a trap, and Sonic had been pushed right into it.

And that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was yet to come. The poison was bitter enough on it's way in, but Sonic had yet to experience the damage it would do. He exhausted himself trying to find a way to save himself from the plate of insanity and misery put before him, but he found no way around it. What else was there to do? ...Sonic didn't want to say it, but a part of him knew the answer. Nothing. He could do nothing. Lie there and take it in, maybe scream every few minutes, but otherwise...

Sonic's thoughts were stopped quite brutally when he and the doctors apparently reached their destination. The blue hedgehog breathed in sharply as he saw what was before him. He shook his head, to the best of his ability, and glared.

"No." he carefully mouthed. 'No' was one of the three words he had learned to say from the therapy. "N-no." he repeated, staring at what lay before him. He was ignored.

A padded cell. The handcuffs. Was that what they were going to do? Chain him up like an animal, put him in a cage and keep him drugged? All of us that know Sonic are aware that the very idea was hell to him. He struggled, and Mr. Phillips seemed to be agitated as well. It did not get any better when the therapist noticed something else wrong about the situation...

"Wait a minute... wait a minute, there's no lights in there" Mr. Phillips pointed out. "Is that a mistake, or-?"

"Oh, no, it's a new type of treatment... " The owner said, struggling to put the resisting Sonic in the room. The blue hedgehog was fighting back to the best of his ability, although tat wasn't very much, and staring at the darkness in sheer horror. Mr. Phillips glared.

"Darkness? Darkness is a treatment?" He asked incredulously. The new doctor momentarily looked up from the reluctant hedgehog.

"Yes, yes it is. Would you like me to repeat something else?" He spat sarcastically. Mr. Phillips' stern glare grew as he stared at the unlit, padded cell with contempt.

"I never did believe in these things, and a dark one isn't any better-"

"When the patient is unable to see his or her surroundings, the brain is more active, which exercises the nerve connection. And the lack of artificial heating and his own habit of starving himself will force the muscles to become more active as well, trying to produce heat."

"Well what about the psychological effects?" Mr. Phillips shot back, not really caring if the cold, dark room could raise the dead.

"He'll get used to it. The dark can't hurt him."

"It can, sir. I'm a psychiatrist. And if the muscles are forced to overwork, he will tear himself to pieces due to the lack of nutrition!"

"In all due respect, I've been a psychiatrist for four years longer than you have. Besides, we can force-feed him if we have to."

"This won't help him at all!"

"It is not your place to say that."

"Call it 'survival therapy' call it 'quarantine therapy' call it whatever the bloody hell you want, its torture! You're locking him in a cold, dark room, that's all it is and that's all it ever will be-."

"You listen to me, sir! This person was, as of two hours ago, issued into OUR care. That means _I_ say how he is treated, _I_ say whether or not my methods are efficient, that means _I_ decide what's going to be done about his condition. Not you. So, with all possible respect, Mr. Phillips, _back off!_" The psychiatrist said, struggling not to raise his voice. Mr. Phillips stared at him for a moment, wordless, then looked down at the blue hedgehog, the owner of confused and frightful eyes. He slowly and silently pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, and looked back up at the doctor.

"In that case, god have mercy on his soul."

Mr. Phillips left.

Sonic tried to call out- tried to ask for someone to help him- but it was no use. He was quite literally dragged into the dark room, handcuffed, and drugged. The doctor's left, and the last thing Sonic saw was a square of light from the door's window amongst darkness before he drifted into a restless and terror-stricken sleep. But within the few moments of conscious thought he had, he was filled with more vitriolic and hateful emotions than he ever wanted to feel again.

He hated them all. Hated them. Even Mr. Phillips. He was helpless, he wanted Amy. He was terrified and spiteful and miserable and somewhere between the hurricane of horrid emotions, he forgot entirely that there was a world beyond his misery and that one-day he might escape back into it.

Compared to the weeks he had spent in places like this, it was absurd to even dream of such a thing. And after a while, Sonic had lost hope.

He had been buried alive in a cold, dark coffin. That's what it felt like.

Can you imagine the pain?

* * *

7 days later

* * *

Amy sat on the hospital bed, looking over her now cared-for wounds. None of them had hit the bone and most of them grazed the skin- it no longer hurt and Amy was to be released the next morning. But Amy did not care about that. Knuckles now sat before her. 

"You said we'd talk about him, Knuckles."

"I know. It's just hard..."

"Tell me what happened to him!" She demanded. "NOW!"

Knuckles was taken back. But he knew what must be done.

"Amy- ...when you died... or, when Sonic thought that you died... he..." Knuckles paused. "Started acting... strange."

"Strange how?"

"He was dead, Amy. On the inside. I- ...I brought a psychiatrist over to his house- and... He was judged... unhealthy." Knuckles said. Amy flinched, tears streaming down her face for Sonic. Knuckles noticed. He shuddered at how she might react to the more recent news. "They were going to take him to an institution- ...but the night before they came, he- ...he went to the dock and-..."

Amy's entire body stiffened and she stared in terror at Knuckles. She slowly shook her head, understanding what Sonic had done.

"There was nothing any of us could have done then- he went into the water- he didn't-"

"He's dead."

"No! He's alive, Amy! He was rescued, but not after he had been underwater for a few minuets-"

"What are you saying?"

"Sonic is mentally disabled now, Amy. He didn't breathe for six minutes. He's half brain-dead. He can barely talk and barely move. He's tried to kill himself many times." Knuckles spat out.

Amy froze. She couldn't move. She really couldn't move. She wanted to hit Knuckles, yell at him for saying such horrible things. She wanted to run to Sonic, wherever he was, but no. She couldn't.

Hate pulsed through her. Sonic... her Sonic, her precious and wonderful Sonic... how could anyone let that happen to him? She exploded, took out her hammer, and struck Knuckles across the face. The echidna ended up sprawled on the ground. He would be okay, but he got the message. He stared up at the pink hedgehog, shocked at the expression in her eyes.

It's difficult to type this. There's really no easy way for me to put this down in ink. Believe me I've spent the past six lines trying, and it doesn't sum up to half of what Amy was feeling. So I'll try again.

Have you ever accidentally hurt someone? Like you were playing with your cousin or sibling, and accidentally pushed too hard, and they got hurt? It's a bad feeling, because despite what your parents said when you tearfully told them what happen, you knew it was your fault. Even if it _was_ an accident, and _was_ out of your control, you just can't help but think that if you were a little more careful- things could have been different.

But have you ever accidentally condemned someone to a life-long hell? When you were trying to save their life? Someone you loved more than life itself? I didn't think so.

Before Knuckles could stand up, Amy was gone, running to where Knuckles had told her the institution was.

* * *

Okay, that's what I have so far. Don't worry, blue, the plot twist will be there. The next chapter tells of the week that Sonic spends in the institution, (and man is it a horrid week.) and the chapter after that is the big finale. So.. review. please. Or I _**won't**_ post next chapter. I'm not kidding. 


	10. the fire

Okey-dokey, folks; here's the mindset for this chapter; Mental institution staff evil.

I needed a small break from the Sonic torture, for as awesome as it is, It is not the point of the story. I was starting to bury the centerpiece of the story- 'there are much worse things than death' and other such morals that apply to this tale, with a little more torture/angst than necessary. So, more or less this chapter will be based more on the philosophy than the misery. But don't worry, there WILL be torture, just not as focused as in the other chapters. I'm trying to go back to the roots of the story, where Sonic kept thinking about Amy and how he felt guilty and all that stuff. And I got a really thought-provoking comment that Sonic shouldn't be capable of thinking clearly at this moment. So, I tried to follow the advice, and somewhere in the middle and end of this chapter, you will see Sonic slowly drift into a moderate level of insanity. Enjoy.

Anyway, to all reviewers, I am FAR to lazy to respond to all of you at this moment, so, if your name is not in the following list of replies, please note that you are just as important as any of the reviewers listed, I just didn't really care. A-as much. Yeah. But thank everyone... I just... These reviews... make me so happy, I- ...great! I'm crying again! It's just so beautiful that people bother to read my stories! So beautiful indeed! I love you all! That's it, I have to vent these positive energies. ...What's something I can maul...?

**Fading Hopes: Sure! Unless your site is angel island shrine! They turned me down a year ago and now I'm never setting foot there again unless I get a huge apology! And I want them to beg, too!**

**"But that was because all your writing sucked a year ago."**

"**Be quiet, Shadow! They don't know that!"**

Max: Drama? Dra- ...ma? What is this 'drama' you speak of?

**Crystal: yes, I was going for the whole 'scary' thing with that sentence. Thank 'Purity' by Slipknot for that, otherwise I might not have thought of it.**

Isu: Hi! I haven't heard from you in a while! Good to see you! And yeah, It is sad... As a matter of fact I think that I'm making it to monotonously sad... so this chapter is a slight change of pace. _Slight_.

**Azul: Neat! I can't wait to see your new character. Make sure to give them a unique personality. That's the most important aspect! Good luck!**

Lilamyrose: Oh my! How violent! Well, here it is, so you can't hurt me.

* * *

-Day 2 (I think. This fanfic has relatively no sense of time. I'll just say it's been five days about 6000 words later. I have no idea how the days are actually passing in this story.)

* * *

_Sonic stepped uneasily through the dense woods, unsure where he was going. He felt confused; muddled, he knew there was something strange about this situation but he couldn't put his finger on it as he trekked through the dense underbrush and out into a field of rolling plains. _

_Coming out of the forest was like stepping into cold water- it struck Sonic like lightning, and he looked around at the scenery breathlessly._

_He was in a meadow. Lush and green with tall, soft grass carpeted a gentle slope, which lead to the edge of a lake. Mountains could be seen in the distance, and the forest, which seemed much more cheery from the outside, bordered the serene clearing. _

_Sonic stared happily up at the clouds, again haunted by the feeling that something was wrong. But what could be wrong? It was so beautiful here... he stumbled, without intention, through the meadow, taking in its beauty as he neared the shore of the lake. He stopped once his feet reached the sand, smiling as the tiny lake-waves splashed around his bare feet. He had no idea why he was so happy and why it felt so strange to be so happy. He ignored it and collapsed back into the soft grass, sighing at the bliss of it all..._

_"Hello, Sonic."_

_The blue hedgehog bolted upright, the person's voice tearing him forcefully from his state of relaxation. He looked behind him to see..._

_"Amy!" Sonic exclaimed, standing up and leaping for her: to embrace her. She sidestepped, and he half-stumbled through air, his target missed entirely. He barely stopped himself from falling over, and turned to face her, confused. She stared back at him, expressionless, a hand behind her back. "A-Amy?" He asked, stepping in her direction. She stepped away. He stepped closer, and this time Amy laughed cruelly and seized him in one arm, kissing him forcefully and pinning his arms to his sides. Sonic's eyes widened in shock, he tried to pull away but he felt himself grow weak in her arms. He struggled, bewildered, when Amy removed her hand from behind her back, and Sonic saw what she was holding in her other hand._

_A knife. The knife. The same one he brought to the dock. The same one he had spent so much time with the three days after Amy died. All the memories came back, all the pain came back, he suddenly became the mute, half-paralyzed hedgehog all over again, and the meadow morphed itself into the dock, the lake transforming into the ocean. Amy laughed bitterly, and pushed Sonic to the ground. He lay there, helpless, not understanding what she was doing._

_"A-my." He protested weakly, barely able to manage the sounds once again. Amy ignored him and sat down beside him, resting the edge of the knife against his chest. Sonic shook his head and cried strengthlessly._

_"How could you?" Amy hissed bitterly. Sonic shook his head, he didn't understand. Amy glared, and lowered the knife to his stomach, in the exact place where he had stabbed himself. "How could you? After all I did for you?"_

_Sonic tried to get away, he didn't understand. He hurt. He stared up at her, his eyes pleading what he could not say -'Amy, please stop this'-_

_But she didn't stop. She slowly lifted the knife into the air, and brought it down forcefully upon his stomach-_

* * *

Sonic bolted upright and tried to scream- but his voice failed him and his muscles cried out in pain as he collapsed back into the floor of the padded cell. He gasped for air as tears streamed down his cheeks. It took him a while to understand. The room was pitch black and he had no memory of where he was- when it all came back to him and Sonic was reduced to harsh, wailing sobs as he relived the last moments of the dream within his mind over and over again. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to drive the images of Amy's sneering face and the blood-encrusted knife from his head, but it did not work and Sonic was broken to pieces every time the dream replayed in his head. 

What did it mean? What did any of it mean? He shuddered at the memory of Amy hissing those cruel words in his ear. The words themselves were not venomous in any way, but it was the way she said it...

Sonic shook his head and bit back tears. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Amy wouldn't hurt him. Amy would never hurt him. _Never_.

Sonic repeated this to himself over and over again- pretty soon it worked and the horrid images of the dream left his battered conscious. Sonic looked around into the darkness, but soon couldn't stand it and forced his gaze back to the dimly lit window. The dark was his enemy- if he stared into the nothingness for too long his fear would cycle over itself and assure him that something terrible resided in what could not be seen. Sonic again looked to the light. Exhausted, in pain and barely able to move, he half crawled, half dragged himself over to one of the barely lit corners and curled up inside it, hugging his knees to his chest, panting in exhaustion at what had now become an extreme effort.

His thoughts again began to repeat themselves over the dream, this time successfully blocking out the scenes that brought him terror.

...He realized that it was true. Amy had every right to be mad at him. She had given up her own life to save him and what had he done? He threw it away. That made him guilty. Did that mean he deserved this? Sonic wasn't sure anymore. He just knew that it hurt. The little blue hedgehog shivered in the cold. Hadn't Amy known that it would hurt? How could she have expected so much from him? He was not a god- he could be crushed and broken just like anyone else in the world. Why hadn't Amy realized that?

(Those of you who can supply an answer to Sonic's question are very wise. Respond in your reviews.)

Sonic wasn't sure. All he knew was that the dream- although true- was at the same time wrong. Amy would never hurt him. He had learned that early on. Amy had made it clear to him that love meant she wanted him to be happy, safe and healthy, not that she wanted to drag him along on dates or do anything that would make him miserable. Even after what he had done- she would forgive him. Why? Because she loved him.

Sonic scoffed briefly. Why did he bother thinking about that? He would never see Amy again. She was dead.

Sonic's head began to hurt at the complicated philosophy. He immediately abandoned the thoughts, and buried his face in his knees as tears spilled from his eyes.

Suddenly, as if to purposefully take away what little time he had to grieve, the door swung open, and Sonic was blinded by the sudden huge amount of light.

"It's time for your therapy, Sonic."

* * *

Sonic stared blankly around the room, his eyes drenched with worry and uncertainty, but for the first time in days, acknowledgement. Three doctors, instead of one, surrounded him. He shivered. This was not like Mr. Phillips' office. That was colorful, more than often it had appeared friendly, and it had been tastefully covered in furniture, and filled with books. It had been a reasonably comfortable place, Sonic realized, in contrast to this room. 

It might as well have been an interrogation room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were bare concrete, and the solitary chair and table were that of which you'd find in a prison. Sonic didn't like it here. And the three people standing before him had personalities to match the room. They sat there, with clipboards, and asked him to do tasks he was barely capable of due to his hardly controllable movement, but were at the same time extremely simple and degrading.

"Please complete this puzzle, Sonic." The doctor said, placing a wooden slab on the table, which contained indentations matching the shapes of the wooden cutouts next to it. He glared. This was the fifth one he had been asked to do. It was like a puzzle made for kindergarteners. Sonic groaned and rested his head in a solitary hand. Hadn't they made him feel bad about himself as it was? His muscles ached from all this stress and he could barely lift his arm. This had gone on for hours, or so it had felt like to Sonic. He wanted to go back home, to his dark room, and sleep, while holding his picture of Amy. He wanted to go to wherever Amy had gone. He didn't know of anyone in the world who could take the pain away like she could.

Although Sonic was ashamed of it, the pain of being incapable and caged in and beaten around was starting to outweigh how much he missed Amy. Now, if Amy would only come back everything would be perfect. She would find a way to take him from this awful place. She would find a way to make him better. Wouldn't she? She would do that for him, right? She would do anything for him. She already had...

Tears began to splash from Sonic's eyes, and he completely ignored the puzzle put before him. After a while, the doctors noticed. The nearest doctor took a hold of Sonic's chin and forced him to look up, then curiously rotated Sonic's head side to side to view the tears. The doctor sighed, patted Sonic's head, (Sonic glared- he hated being treated like a dog.) and left the room. The other two doctors followed.

Sonic was confused. They left him alone? His eyes widened. They let him alone! For just a second, he smiled. He could get out! He had to! ...He looked around the room. The door he had used to come in would only lead to the white, sanitized hall of the institution. He shuddered. That was not the way out. Someone would catch him. But the door behind him, the one that the doctors had used to leave, lead to...

Sonic, with difficulty, turned around in his chair to look at the door. He practically shouted for joy, unable to believe his luck! The door was slightly ajar, and he could see into the next room... It looked like a staff lounge. It had a couch, and a shelf for books, as well as a coffee table, and... A _window!_

The blue hedgehog smiled. His escape! ...But how would he get over there without detection? The doctors were in the next room over, in what appeared to be a kitchen. He probably, if he tried hard enough, could get over there. He had gone across his room at the hospital. But this was different. There would be no objects that he could use for support. He wouldn't get to rest. And once he got out the window, he wouldn't get far before they caught him.

He sighed. He wasn't an idiot. (Yes he was.) Okay, so he was, could you just let me narrate? (Okay.) He knew that he would not get out that way. But he had to do something. He had to, otherwise he would rot away in this horrible white-walled cage and even if he somehow got over his losses there would be no hope at all. He shakily stood, and half-stumbled over to the door, careful not to make any noise. He struggled, and almost lost his balance half way there, but Sonic finally managed to drag himself over to the doorframe, upon which he nearly collapsed into to rest upon. He slid to the ground, unable to keep himself upright, and panted heavily, opening an eye slightly to make sure the doctors had not seen him.

No, still drinking their coffee. Sonic took a few more deep, panting breaths, pulled himself to his undependable feet, and tripped his way over to the window. There... about two more steps, and...

He barley stifled a shout of pain as a vitriolic shudder passed through him, as his knees gave out and his leg muscles cried out in anguish. He stared up at the open window through tear-blurred eyes. He had come so close! Another shudder went through him and he collapsed to the ground, unable to hold back a sob of disappointment and agony. The doctors were immediately alerted, and before Sonic had a chance to grieve, the psychiatrists immediately pressed a needle into his shoulder, (injecting a tranquilizer) and quickly put Sonic to sleep.

* * *

Who knows if it had been hours, minutes or days, but finally Sonic awoke, and he was met with something quite unexpected. He was still in his dreaded cell, but the door was open, allowing light in, and one of the doctors, who Sonic recognized from the therapy, sat before him. He glared weakly at the doctor, ignoring the bitter exhaustion that pulsed through his veins. 

"Well about time you woke up. Sonic, I think we should have a little talk about your behavior back at the therapy center..."

_I couldn't care less if I tried. Sonic wanted to yell, but of course, his voice... He hadn't been unconscious for long..._

"Now you were noted as a good patient from your records at the hospital but, as you probably know, that was a bad thing to do."

_I want to go home... _

"We just want to help you, Sonic. For now, you have to stay here. There are things and people out there that can hurt you. So you have to stay in here. Remember that we're only trying to help. But, you're making that very difficult. I'm sorry to say that because of what you did, you're going to be wearing the restraints during therapy and meal times now."

_If you want to help me, kill me._ Sonic tried to say, but no sound came from his throat. Instead, he buried his face in his elbow and sobbed bitterly, wanting nothing more than to get out of this horrible place. He should have been able to just spin-dash through the walls, run away from here. But he couldn't

It was suffocating him. He could feel it. He had felt it, ever since he got here- a dark, ominous feeling in the back of his mind- and every second in this awful place it got worse. Sonic didn't know how long he had before it would become too grievous to bear.

"Lunch is in half an hour, Sonic. We'll send a nurse to pick you up by then."

* * *

Tails sat in his workshop, looking over his blueprints and calculations, searching for any fault that could have caused Knuckles and Amy's disappearance. He looked for hours on end, but to his distress, he found no reason that they should not be standing in plain sight at this moment. If all had gone to plan, Sonic would be safely in Amy's arms by now. But something had gone wrong. And despite Tails' enthused efforts; the error could not be found. 

It was driving the young fox crazy. The worst part was that it would be his fault. His fault that now they had lost Knuckles, too. Due to some calculation he had missed, who knows where the two were, or if they were even alive! He rested his head in his hand and sobbed quietly. He couldn't bear it. Three of his friends were gone now.

Tails sudden bought of angst was rudely interrupted by a knock on the door. Surprised, he quickly wiped away his tears and walked to the door, opening it to be met with Cream, Rouge and Shadow. Rouge seemed devastated that Knuckles was missing; Tails wasn't too sure if she was mad at him or not. Cream appeared to be putting up a front of mild cheerfulness, but it could still be seen that she was taking the loss of her friends about as well as everyone else.

"I though maybe we should go visit Sonic." the black hedgehog explained. "He probably needs it... besides, we're all starting to miss him."

Cream nodded, and Cheese made a point of looking very depressed, and nodding solemnly.

Tails' eyes widened, and he smacked himself in the forehead. Of course! Poor Sonic! Why hadn't they done that yet? He, Knuckles and Shadow had got so excited about the idea of bringing Amy back, they had forgot all about visiting the poor hedgehog!

"That's a good idea! We should have done that sooner! Now I feel even worse..." The fox moped, his ears drooping sadly. Shadow shifted his weight a little.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. I'm sure Knuckles and Amy are fine, wherever they are. They'll turn up any day now, and Sonic will be okay." Said Cream, who was fighting to be positive. Shadow nodded.

"Yes, the odds are Knuckles and Amy are okay. But, they could have been sent to any time at all. They might not show up for years, or maybe they died of old age centuries ago." Shadow shook his head. "...But at least they're alive."

The group hung their heads, and Tails sadly reached for his coat. It was winter, and the first snows would arrive soon.

* * *

"You have to eat, Sonic. Come on, it's not that bad." urged one of the doctors, trying to get Sonic to eat the cruddy mashed potatoes, which were disturbingly similar to that of a Styrofoam - esq. glob. You know, the stuph they give you at Kentucky Fried Chao. I-I mean chicken. I think... Moving on now. 

Sonic glared down at the lump of- and I use this term loosely- 'food' and pulled further into his chair. It seemed pointless- if he kept this up he'd probably end up on a hospital bed with needles in his wrists- Sonic shuddered at the concept- but it was the last action of defiance he had. If he had no voice, not even the ability to make it clear he was unpleased, then surely his sanity would leave him faster than it currently was already.

Suddenly, Sonic's ears flicked to the attention of a sound by the hallway- a familiar voice...

_Tails!_ Sonic realized. Ashamed, he let his ears droop and again shrunk into the cheap cushioning of the chair. He had forgotten all about his friends. How could he have forgotten them? Sonic shuddered. This place is terrible enough to make you forget anything Sonic decided. He froze. Did that mean he could forget Amy? Sonic prayed not.

He again heard Tails' voice from around the corner of the hallway. The hedgehog listened intently, wondering why he was here.

"Hey, We've come to visit a patient here- Sonic the Hedgehog- and-"

"That patient is not permitted to have visitors at this time." He heard a staff member say. Sonic, appalled, momentarily flattened his ears, wishing he had not heard that. Why? He gave something between a sigh and a moan, and ended it with a half-heated sob. The discussion continued.

"No- Hey, it's really important, we're his friends, and-"

"I'm sorry, sir, but that patient isn't permitted to-"

"We heard you the first time!" Sonic could hear Shadow argue. "We're not leaving until we get to see him!"

There was more arguing- Sonic could not tell what was being said due to the fact that everyone was talking over each other.

He wanted to cry out to them. He wanted to see his friends- it was one form of release from this misery.

"Let us see him!" Demanded Rouge, but that was all Sonic could hear before it once again drowned into a whole bunch of loud talking- just on the verge of becoming an all-out argument. Sonic caught sight of some security guards walking down the hall. They turned the corner, and the arguing of his friends and the doctor were silenced, momentarily.

"We'll have to ask you to leave, folks. People are trying to get their rest."

"He's a hero! He's a person! You can't do this to him! There is no reason that you can treat him like this!" Sonic heard Tails shout. The blue hedgehog sighed, and looked away. It was no use. He heard some more shouting, even though he didn't acknowledge what they were saying, he could tell that his friends were being forced to leave. Depressed, he once again fell into a similar rut as he had within the three days before the ..accident at the dock, one where he refused to think at all.

Time passed slowly for the young hedgehog, but lunch ended, therapy and dinner came and left, and once again he was left alone to the darkness. It was starting to feel routine. And he hated it.

* * *

"I can't believe those jerks wouldn't let us see him!" Growled Rouge, pacing around the wooden floor. "It's probably a living hell for the poor guy in there!" The bat yelled, throwing her arms in the air with exasperation. 

"...Sonic is a hero. What reason do they have to treat him badly?" Asked Shadow, unsure of Rouge's outlook. The bat sighed, and turned to Tails, Cream and Shadow, who now stood before her.

"I've seen those places before, Shadow. They're _bad_ places. ...people don't like it there, Shadow- well, most of them don't. And I _know_ Sonic would never in a thousand years enjoy being locked up in that horrid place."

"They lock him up?" asked Tails, horrified. Rouge nodded.

"That's what they do to the suicidal ones. Padded cell, cliche' as it may be. I studied psychology for a year or two- then, I took a trip to an actual hospital- I realized that was _definately_ not the career for me. I don't want to chain people up and crush them on the inside." Rouge explained. The group was silent.

"...What Sonic hates most of all- underneath water, spiders, evil and Fliara- is being in a cage." Shadow shook his head. "Poor guy."

Rouge nodded.

"He shouldn't be there- he should be here, he should be taken care of by people who care about him."

"That would be no easy task, Rouge. We'd need someone with like three degrees in psychology and the right training to get.. whatever stupid document they'd need to be allowed to take care of Sonic. Unless you can magically pull 5 years and a complete scholarship out of your pocket, I'm sorry to say Sonic isn't going to be moving from where he is anytime soon." Shadow admitted sadly.

"Wait a minute!" Announced Tails. "Amy studied about medicine... do you think she would have the requirements?"

"Well sure she would, but great deal of help that does us!" Shadow scoffed, keeping in mind that, as far as they knew, she was either dead or somewhere in the seventeenth century. Or possibly both. Tails sighed.

"Yeah, I know... " the fox admitted, sitting down on the couch.

"I'm going home. It's no use wishing we knew where- _when_ they were. We may never know, Tails." Shadow said, heading out the door.

A few hours passed, and Then Rouge left for home, followed half an hour later by Cream, which left Tails once again alone. The kitsune sighed; wishing there was something he could do to help Sonic, or something he could do to find Knuckles and Amy. But it was far too late in the day to be reviewing blueprints and making plans. The young fox decided to sleep on it, and think of something in the morning. He _had_ to think of _something_. Sonic was probably dying in there. Not physically, but, as Rouge said, simply being in that place was killing him on the _inside._

Whatever there was to do, Tails would have to think of it in the morning.

* * *

Sonic's eyes flickered open sometime during the middle of the night to be met with a soft, orange glow. This was confusing. It was night, as far as he could tell, and the door should give no light at this hour. What could be illuminating the room? The light, as he saw it from the shadows it cast on the wall, flickered and wavered. Sonic's memory stirred, he had seen this form of lighting before, and the way the shadows danced. He froze. 

_Fire._

Sonic, as quickly as he could, struggled to turn over, and sure enough, he was met with a terrible sight.

Flames danced up and down the wall in front of him, licking around the highly flammable padding of the cell and inching slowly towards him. Black smoke billowed from the wall, which was not built for fires, and Sonic coughed even though the majority of the smoke was above him.

He stared at it, terrified, until a single thought ran through his head enough times for him to react.

_Move!_

Sonic struggled to get onto his hands and knees, but the restraints on his ankles and wrists were making that nearly impossible. He struggled to roll away from the ever-nearing flames, but it was no use. He could barely move as it was without the handcuffs, now he was almost entirely immobile.

The hedgehog cursed himself. What a way to die. The fastest thing alive- dying because he couldn't get away. He shook his head and stared at the flames, when a thought struck him.

Why was he trying to get away? Fire was more than capable of killing him. Was this his way out? He uncertainly let himself relax, and stared at the oncoming flames.

True, it would hurt. A _lot_. It would hurt more than the knife and it would hurt much more than feeling the water fill his lungs. But it _was_ a way out. He had little time left to wonder, because as he thought this, one of the flames began to lick around his right leg.

He cried out bleakly in fear. It hurt, but not much. It would hurt more once it got through his fur. Sonic cried silently. Even if he had wanted to live, he didn't have a choice. He coughed as the smoke burned his lungs and cried out as the flames reached out for more of him.

For a few seconds, Sonic paused for a huge wave of unimaginable pain. One that never came. The fire licked around him, as if tasting him, but before it decided to sink it's flaming teeth into his hide...

The door flung open, and Sonic felt a pair of arms seize him around the waist and pull him from the room- Sonic cried out because the person was not gentle and the pressure against his heat-agitated skin was not comfortable. He was eventually lay down on the floor, in the clear air, where he coughed up what seemed to him like mountains of icky black sludge- the smoke that had managed to blanket the inside of his throat when he was in the fire. Meanwhile, many people rushed to his side and managed to put out the many tongues of flame clinging to his fur. Exhausted, he collapsed, unable to hear the panicked shouts of the people surrounding him. His consciousness left him, and he fell into a shallow, dreamless sleep. If sleep were what you would call it.

* * *

Oh no! Now a _fire_? Is Sonic cursed? Did the mechanics cheap out on the wiring? Is the authoress simply twisted and calloused slime who cares not about her characters and stole and idea from a friend of hers? The answer could be any or all of the above... 

Okay, sorry guys, but I can NOT type another word! I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I need a shower something awful! So this chapter ends NOW! Next chapter will probably be up sooner- once I have all the filler typed up- Man I hate the filler- but otherwise I have like half of the chapter typed up already so whoop-de-yeah! (Grin) And I'm sorry, but Fear is going to be temporarily discontinued until I finish this story. Okay? Okay. Good day honored readers.


	11. the end

---

Oh come ye back  
My own true love  
And stay a while with me  
If I had a friend  
All on this earth  
You've been a friend to me

-Sonic.

--

Hello, hello, hello! And isn't it great to be back amongst the community of fanfiction dot net! I am sorry that the update took so long- but it's up now, and according to the editing of Liz, It's good! And now to respond to my reviews...

Azul Girl: Well, I do have nobody the platypus and everyone the cat, but they're barely used- just one-sentence references for humor. And then there's voice- who the only thing I know about his appearance is that he is purple and has wings of cabbage. He stars in 'Title is currently vacationing in Italy' Otherwise, no.

Isu: Oh, it's not so bad being a deranged and sick-minded monster! Trust me, I know from experience!

Speed-fox: Joy! Maybe you have a few stories you'd like to recommend for my C2?

White Lightning: The ideas are products of a combination of caffeine, literature, general insanity, and poor eating habits. Just thought you'd like to know.

* * *

Sonic had spent seven damned days in this forsaken place.

He had gotten better. He could talk now, barely. His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper, he couldn't manage anything else, and he still could not make half of the sounds and words that he wanted to. Sonic could not be heard unless he was listened to, however. And in his case, that was never done.

The therapy was hard and cruel- but it was not as bad as meal times, where the food was forced down his throat if he would not eat it willingly. He refused to let them put needles in his wrists. He tried to not let them feed him at all, but in his weakened state it was no use. So, according to the prementioned, he was not as thin as he had been a week ago, but his ribs were still easy to count and you could almost see the bones beneath his skin.

His muscles had basically deteriorated themselves from their original, healthy state. Even if he could learn to stand up and keep his balance, he would never run fast again... He sobbed bitterly, shaking his head to force back tears.

"_Why does it have to hurt?" _He questioned into the blackness before him. The hedgehog stiffened in anticipation, and sighed, feeling quite silly. Of course the darkness would never respond to him. Why should it? He wasn't worth anything, now that he couldn't run. That was the only thing he was good at. And now it was gone.

Sonic took a deep breath as he stared at the dark ceiling. He sighed. He could finally talk again, and there was no one to talk to. He wished that the darkness were alive- that he _could_ talk to it. Maybe he could convince it to kill him. Surely it would understand, wouldn't it? He had spent too many days lying beneath the darkness, whispering out questions that were never answered. He breathed in again, finding that it was harder this time. They said his lungs had been damaged slightly, from the water, and then the smoke of the fire.

The fire... Sonic couldn't believe his misfortune. For a few days there, he had lost himself. For a few days, maybe he _had_ been crazy, and he deserved to be here... Those days were fuzzy, partially blank, _painful, _and his thoughts had made little or no sense. The tests, the silly requests the therapist made- they didn't make sense anymore. Sonic could no longer read the letters or any of the other tasks he was assigned, so he stopped trying. He could still remember the nightmares, though. However, to his relief, the dream with Amy and the knife never came again.

Half of his fur was gone- almost all of the quills on his head and one of the quills on his back. All the fur on his right leg- gone up to the knee; and patches of either burnt or destroyed fur were scattered along his body. He had been quite lucky, they had said. He only got two one-degree burns, and most of his fur might grow back within the next three months. Sonic scoffed. He didn't feel lucky.

With difficulty, he rolled over, because the side he had been sleeping on was now sore. It seemed that he couldn't lie in one position for more than eight minutes, and every time he woke up he was stiff and his limbs ached- unable to stretch because of the handcuffs.

He sobbed bitterly. How, what could he possibly do, to deserve this? He wished them all dead. The staff for how they treated him, Mr. Phillips for abandoning him, even his friends for not visiting him, even if they had been turned down the first time it didn't mean they could just leave him here like that.

"_Why don't you just let me go?_" He whispered into the dark, struggling with the 'j' sound. "_Just let me die_?" He asked. As usual, he received no answer. He rolled onto his other side, ignoring how difficult and exhausting it was, and stared blankly at the door, although it was difficult due to the darkness of the room.

There was something different about today. Sonic could feel it. He felt tired, as if he _wanted_ to sleep. Sonic never _wanted_ to sleep. He would have nightmares. But now... he wanted to. He tried to relax, when suddenly he knew what was happening.

A grin slowly spread across his face, and he rested his head on the ground. He was dying. He smiled lightly, and gave no notice to the tears that fell down his face. Finally. He could just feel it, by how distant and lost he felt. He wondered what it would be like. It didn't matter; this hell would finally be over. He smiled, and laughed quietly to himself, tears still streaming down his face.

* * *

Amy burst through the doors of the mental institution, running down the white, tiled halls as fast as she could, ignoring the protests of the staff and the burning of her lungs from running so much. As she neared a turn, one of the doctors grabbed her arm and held her back, glaring down at her through their thick-rimmed glasses.

"Miss, you are not permitted to-"

"Where's Sonic?" Amy demanded, snapping at the doctor. The elderly man flinched, but otherwise kept his demeanor.

"Sonic is not permitted to have visitors at this ti-"

Amy got out her hammer, threw the doctor to the ground, and raised the weapon threateningly.

"Where's Sonic."

He stared up at her, terrified.

"Th-Three rooms to your left."

Amy immediately ran down the hall to her left, screeching to a halt as she reached the third room. She pulled on the handle of the steel door- but when it did not move, she grew angry. She forcefully ripped the lock from the wall- the metal bar used to keep the door shut was simply torn from the drywall: Who knows if Amy used chaos energy to do this or if the thought of Sonic lying alone, in pain, simply drew her on.

The door opened.

* * *

Sonic sighed, and prepared for whatever may come next, but was literally torn away from the thoughts he had in the last few minutes as the door to his cell was flung open and something unbelievable stood before him. At first, he could not- no matter how he tried- how could not comprehend nor contain the joy that flooded into him. If he had been able, he would have sprang to his feet and ran into her arms- but then he remembered, and his heart- or whatever you may want to call the center of one's emotion- soul, being, or the prementioned heart, was shattered to fragments.

"No." He moaned weakly, burying his head in his elbow.

Amy. She was back. And he was dying. Dying because he had made himself die. The one time- the one, single, final time he had gotten any form of release- and she wasn't dead. He was going to be alone again. He sobbed- loudly, angrily, longingly, and repeatedly disbelieved.

She wasn't dead. She had never been dead. He did all of that- all of those horrible, painful things he had done- and she wasn't dead? All of this and she wasn't dead? How? How could this- why could this happen to him? His sobs were forced to come to a close- he simply didn't have the strength.

Amy was absolutely silent and unmoving. Sonic had no idea why. Maybe she was shocked an appalled that he had let this happen to himself. Maybe she was mad at him. She had the right to be. A few moments passed, all the while Sonic too ashamed to look up at her.

Those moments of silence did not last long.

Amy ran to Sonic, seized him in her arms and wept furiously, hugging him tightly to her and stroking his quills. She took off the horrid, restraining hand and ankle cuffs, gently rubbing the irritated joints and finally once again squeezing him tightly into a secure, protective hug.

"How? How could anyone do this to you? How could I of let this happen to you? ...It's entirely my fault..." Amy wept, petting his quills with her free hand, which had also gently tilted Sonic's head against her shoulder. The blue hedgehog cried. It wasn't her fault. It was his fault. And now Amy would have to feel the hurt that he went through when she died. All because of him.

If he had just stayed in his room- if he had just resisted the temptations- then none of this would have happened. He still would have been taken away, to this place, but he would not had to of put up with the painful therapy. He would be able to run, and to speak. And possibly, he would not be crying so hard within Amy's arms. Perhaps he would not be dying.

At first Amy continued to stroke his quills, but she soon stopped, and looked down to his forearms, thinking she had seen something odd. Sonic's eyes widened, noticing her shock, and he pulled his arm to his side. Amy stared at him strangely, and gently took a hold of his arm, pulling it into view. Sonic, ashamed, bowed his head, and Amy gasped at what she saw...

Numerous wounds and scars ran across his wrists. Amy's eyes watered, and she held Sonic even tighter, gently rocking him back and forth, to calm him.

"...Why? Did it hurt... that much? When did you do this?" She asked quietly. Sonic stared to the ground, and partially ignored the subject.

"_In the three days after you left..." _He muttered. Amy opened her mouth, about to speak, when he interrupted her. "..._I'm dying_." He muttered weakly to himself, more to verify it, make it easier to bear, then to inform Amy. It served both priorities, though, and her response was not at all pleasant.

"No! No, Sonic, NO! Don't talk like that- don't _ever_ say that- ...no." Amy's voice was reduced to mumbling, and Sonic could barely breathe, the way she was holding him so tightly.

The pink hedgehog's voice was once again coherent, and her words conveyed very precise meaning.

"Sonic, no, I'm here. I'll never let you hurt again. Never." Amy whispered, easing her grip a little. The blue hedgehog wept shakily.

"_You kn-now you c- ...an't promise that." _He muttered, struggling with the 'kn' and 'c' sounds. Amy stared down at him, eyes watering.

"Why not?"

"_I'm hurting now._" He whispered, unable to do anything else. He shuddered, and pressed into her. Realization struck Amy, and even though she refused to believe it, she knew it was true.

Sonic would always hurt. He was trapped. The greatest things in the world had been taken away from him and could never be given back. If he lived, he would spend day to day staring out a window and wishing he could run, while he wasted away on the inside, despite any amount of love Amy could give him.

Sonic's thoughts were similar. What had he thought, that Amy could magically save him from the very fate he had planted himself into? He had made the wrong choices and been too weak to resist temptation, and now he would suffer the consequences.

The blue hedgehog's breathing shook threateningly, and for a second he coughed and struggled, resting back into a normal cycle of breathing after a while. Amy, with tear-filled eyes, reached down and stroked the little amount of fur still remaining on his face.

"Please don't go. Please, Sonic. I'll find a way. I will." She whispered, lying to herself and to him, begging for him to believe her. Sonic sighed, and nestled comfortably into her arms, trying to relax.

"_I'm sorry... Forgive me." _He moaned, feeling his voice waver. Amy shook her head, wordless. _"I... "_

An oppressive silence filled the room. Sonic's breathing had come to a sickening halt. Amy could no longer feel his pulse beneath her fingers. She could no longer feel his breath against her neck.

"No." she mouthed silently. "...No."

The pink hedgehog didn't notice when the hospital staff burst into the room. She didn't notice when they took Sonic from her arms. She didn't even notice how long she had sat there, staring with tearful eyes at the ground, until a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw a man with large glasses and thick, curly brown hair. The pink hedgehog, confused, stood upright, awaiting some form of explanation. The man had solemn and downcast eyes- Sonic's death was obviously grievous on his account as well.

"Hello, Amy. I am- ...was Sonic's psychiatrist... he- ... " Mr. Phillips (yeah, he's back:)) said quietly, trailing off as he ran out of words. "...He really loved you. He though about you every day- I know he did." He said. It was true that Phillips got to know Sonic fairly well during the time he was a patient at the hospital. The doctor himself had been on his way here to attempt stopping the torture they were putting him through. But it had ended in vain. He had arrived too late. "He... he missed you, Amy." The psychiatrist's tone grew stern. "But he's free now. He's free from the restraints he put on himself. Something no amount of therapy- or love- could have ever done..."

Amy rubbed away her tears and listened intently.

"I'm just glad he got to see you- one last time."

Amy couldn't stand it, and was once again reduced to tears.

"I-I just... It- it's my fault!" She cried, burying her face in her hands. "It's all my fault!"

"It's not, Amy. It's nobody's fault when things like this happen. All we can do, when we lose our loved ones, is to try and make things better, and hope they're happy where they are." He tried to explain. Amy shook her head.

"I just... I didn't want any of that to happen to him." Amy mumbled. "I wanted to take away the pain."

Mr. Phillips was silent for a moment, but soon reached out and patted the hedgehog on the shoulder.

"We all did. Your friends heard the news- ...they're in the lobby."

* * *

Amy walked through the doors and into the lobby of the institution, to see Tails; Knuckles shadow and Rouge sitting around a coffee table. They turned at the sound of the door opening, and immediately ran over to her once they saw her. At first it looked like they were going to reach out and embrace her, to comfort her, but she held up a hand and mumbled through a tear-chocked voice:

"I-I couldn't save him." She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with a free hand. "I- ...I just couldn't... help him. I- " the pink hedgehog was reduced to harsh tears and her friends gathered around her in a form of group hug, save shadow, which was an entirely anti-group hug person. Knuckles and the others were also teary-eyed.

"It's my fault. If I had just double-checked the time stones, none of this would have happened." Knuckles murmured; shaking his head vigorously and attempting to blink back tears. Rouge shook her head, and hugged the echidna.

"It's nobody's fault." The bat said tearfully. "...But it just wasn't fair!"

Amy paused, at hearing those words. It wasn't fair. Not at all.

She stared down at the floor, but she did not see the checkered linoleum. The horrorific image played back in her head- the image of watching Sonic die in her arms.

"No." She murmured, tearing away from her friends. Surprised, they stared at her. Tails was about to ask what was wrong- when Amy shoved him aside, ripped the time-stones from Knuckles' hands, and ran a few meters off, stopping to look back.

Tails was terribly confused. He stood up, gaping at Amy as if she was crazy.

"Put those down! Amy!" Tails argued, taking a step closer. Amy backed away, and shook her head.

"I-I can't let that happen to him. I- ...I can't-"

The fox suddenly understood. Amy was going to go back. She was going to stop Sonic from attempting suicide. Tails' ears sagged. It would be pointless trying to get her to do anything else.

"...It could be dangerous." Tails murmured, trying to reason with her. Amy shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

"...I can't, Tails." She murmured. "I had to watch him die... I... I'm sorry. Really, ... I don't want to endanger the space-... time- ...but..." Amy trailed off. "I-I had to watch him die... "

Tails took a step back, and nodded.

"It's okay. I understand, Amy."

"Thank you Tails."

There was a quick flash of light- and then Amy was gone.

(A few (more than seven) days ago. I think it was twelve. I forget. The date that Sonic attempted suicide.)

He could see the stormy horizon hover before the edge of the dock, the slightest hint of morning pushing through the flurries of snow, which neared the winter-felled city in every minute. The snow would melt into the sea; the sea would become the snow. ...Sonic wondered if everything worked that way; circles of repeating devastation. But that was not important right now.

Sonic sighed, and raised the knife level with his chest, and attempted to stab himself-

Suddenly, a hand caught Sonic's wrist, stopping the blade inches from his stomach. The hedgehog froze. His mind stumbled and collapsed, unbelieving. How? How could someone possibly take away his one option of release? He wordlessly dropped the blade, all hope draining from his body, not caring who his savior was and not daring to look at them. He still did not react when the person slowly drew him into their arms, carefully petting his quills and supporting his weight as Sonic gave up standing and leaned into them. He stared quietly out at the ocean, not interested as to whose arms he was resting in. That is, until...

"Hello, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog's body stiffened, he quickly moved to look his captor in the eye, and could only gape at what stood before him as his knees gave out and he grew completely dependant on her embrace.

"Amy." He mouthed breathlessly, too shocked to clutch at her, so sad to smile at her, and to scared to cry into her shoulder. And so all he could do was stare. Stare as Amy gently lay him down, pet his quills and held him, until finally both hedgehogs were reduced to harsh tears. Sonic's tears, however, were accompanied by loud, miserable wailing, which Amy gave her best effort to stifle with affection.

Amy, after giving him some time to calm down, placed a finger under his chin and slowly lifted his face so that his eyes met hers. She smiled warmly, unsurpassable joy running through her as she held him tightly. He was alive. He was safe. He was wrapped up, safe and secure in her arms. She laughed out loud through her tears, squeezing him firmly for a few second before letting him lie back into a gentle, kind embrace. She then saw his tears, his sad, longing expression, and her joy was momentarily set back. The pink hedgehog cooed slightly, to comfort him, and delicately wiped away the little beads of sorrow that fell from his eyes. She pulled him closer as he continued to cry, and gently brushing away any tears that strayed onto his face. There was a very prominent silence, and Amy's eyes wandered to the blade lying on the wooden planks of the dock. She picked up the knife; Sonic flinched, and slowly ran her finger against the flat of the blade, before setting it back down. (no, she didn't cut herself.) She again stared back down at him.

"Were you going to do that because of me?" she asked, specks of tears still left in her eyes from a few minutes ago. Sonic nodded solemnly. The pink hedgehog shuddered, she was dying for him to say something. She knew it was impossible but half of her was afraid of him becoming... what she had seen in that cell... she was afraid, terrified of seeing it happen all over again. Seeing the pleading look in his eyes... feeling the life drain out of him beneath her fingers. Sonic pulled himself further into her arms and continued to weep. Amy noticed, and carefully stroked her hand across his smooth, delicate fur, wrapping him up in her protective embrace and quietly hushing his sobs. Sonic was not silenced; he still wept quite audibly despite Amy's efforts, but Amy didn't seem to mind as a wave of sheer, unfaltered, satisfied bliss swept over her once again;

Sonic would be okay.

The scars remained on his wrists and the tears remained in his eyes but, and in all truthfulness, he would be okay. She was so relived to see him alive and healthier than he had been on the last occasion; sure he was still quite thin but he was no longer missing patches of fur or starving to death in her arms. She again gently stroked her hand across his fur. It was soft, and incredibly smooth. Like rabbit fur

She gently helped him to his feet, but He seemed more intent on leaving the entire concept of standing upright to her. He weakly clung to her, giving no effort at anything else. He had even stopped sobbing, but Amy wasn't sure if staring into space, which Sonic had replaced it with, was any better.

Realizing that he would not move on his own, Amy cautiously lifted him into her arms and helped him back to her house. She kept walking down the dock for a moment- when she stepped on something. Looking down, she saw a note. She looked up at Sonic, who was already asleep, and back down at the note. That must have been the suicide note the police mentioned... Amy leaned down, momentarily setting Sonic down upon the dock, and picked it up, reading it.

_-To whoever finds this._

_I can't take it anymore.  
I'm sorry, everyone, I tried... it was just too much.  
Tell Tails that he's a good kid, and he'll change the world someday.  
Tell Fliara that she is the single hardest-working person I've ever met. Let her have my job of hero. She'll do better than I ever did.  
Tell Knuckles he's a good person, and I've always really looked up to him, even on the occasions where he was a total jerk.  
Tell Shadow that I'm truly, ultimately sorry. I finally understand what you felt like when you lost Maria.  
Tell everyone else that they were the best friends I ever had. I wouldn't have made it this far without them.  
Tell the citizens of station square that I'm sorry. I really am. But I just can't... _

_I'm sorry. I really, truly am. If I could fix what was wrong with me, I would. But I can't. Many people, thousands, have gotten over similar hurt. But I'm not like them. I can't._

_Forgive me._

Amy sighed, again picking up Sonic, and carrying him home. He deserved the rest.

* * *

Amy opened the door, (Sonic wrapped in one arm) and walked into her house. She was surprised that it had not been emptied yet- and at the same time thankful. The electricity and water hadn't been canceled yet- as Amy found out and happily noted- and not a thing was different than when she had left it. Except for the couch.

Tails had told her that Sonic had come to her house often before he had holed himself up in his room. He must have spent most of his time there.

Amy tearfully pulled Sonic close to her and kissed his forehead. He was asleep, but Amy felt like he deserved the gesture anyway. She looked down at him. He was a sorry sight. Fur matted and dirty, terribly thin, smears of blood around his wrists, where he had...

Amy shook her head and carried Sonic to the couch. She just couldn't think like that. It was so hard picturing Sonic that way... she just couldn't. Maybe in the future she would need to, to comfort him, but for now... she refrained from it as much as possible. She carefully lay him down upon the soft, comfortable sofa, and picked up a blanket to cover him with. She reached for a blanket sitting on the table next to the couch- but when she picked it up, her eyes caught sight of something that had resided beneath the blankets. ...a knife. With blood on it.

Amy sighed and held the blanket to her chest, crying. Had Sonic truly been pushed that far...? She picked up the knife and threw it in the sink, soon returning and draping the blanket over Sonic's sleep-confined form. She sighed as she stared down at him. He seemed small, like a child. She didn't like it, that image didn't suit him. But at the same time, she was incredibly thankful that he was okay.

It could have so easily gone wrong. But at least she had stopped all of those terrible things from happening to him. She turned towards the kitchen, going to make something to eat- when she heard a sharp cry from behind her, and she immediately turned around to see Sonic, sitting upright, his eyes darting around the room, and finally, to her.

"Amy!" He cried out, running to her and leaping apon her, once again weeping fiercely into her shoulder. Amy gasped as he clutched at her, refusing to move even as she gently attempted to pry his arms from around her. Pretty soon she gave up, and quietly and gently placed her arms around him. She was quite unsure what to do, but she knew that Sonic needed comfort, so she gently stroked his quills and hushed his sobs. Finally, Sonic looked up at her. "Amy... I- I thought.. that it was all a dream.. but.. you're really here, Amy, you're- ...you're really _alive_." Sonic whispered, as if the words would make her vanish if he said them. Amy nodded, and gave him a reassuring hug.

"Yep. I'm here. Really."

"A-are you sure?" he asked. "I can't help but think.. that I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone... It's happened before... ." At these words, the blue-quilled hedgehog sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. "I've dreamt it a thousand times, Amy. You'd be back. Clear as day. I would see you- not just see you, but I could _touch_ you and _smell _you- Like you were really there! And just when I would start to think it was real- ... it would always end the same way- I'd wake up, and you'd be gone. Those dreams never lasted long enough." He sighed drearily. He looked up at Amy, a unsteady expression on his face. "Is it a dream this time too?"

Amy paused, and pulled Sonic against her, in what would be recognized as a rib-cracking hug, but soft enough so it was tolerable.

"No, Sonic. Not this time."

"You'd always say that... you'd always say that it was real... sometimes you would hurt me..."

"I'm not leaving you. I would _never_ hurt you." Amy said sternly, still hugging him tightly. A few moments of silence passed- and a startling noise was suddenly audible from Amy's shoulder. It took her a moment to identify the sound, but soon she realized that Sonic was crying. She immediately moved to look him in the eye, and dried the few, quiet tears that he happened to shed. She stood there for a while, continuing to comfort him, when he stopped, and shook his head vigorously, taking a step back.

"I-I'm sorry." Sonic mumbled. Amy smiled down at him, reaching out and draping an arm across his shoulder.

"For what?" She asked, pulling Sonic back into a hug. "You did nothing wrong."

"I- " the hedgehog paused. "...I didn't?" Sonic asked, as if he didn't believe it.

"No. Now let's get you into a bath- your fur is absolutely filthy, Sonic." she said, leading him over to the bathroom. She was right, his fur _was _in a terrible state of disarray. In all truthfulness, the hedgehog could use a bath.

* * *

Amy sighed as the warm water began to fill the tub, and turned to Sonic, who was shifting his weight uneasily by the door. She smiled, and walked over to him, taking his hand and pulling him along. Sonic stared nervously down at the water, and Amy could not restrain a giggle.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little water." She joked, immediately wishing she could swallow back her words when she saw Sonic's hurt expression. He took a step away from her, and looked to the ground, ashamed. Amy stifled a small gasp, and walked up to him, seizing him in a hug. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that... it's okay, Sonic." She assured him, patting him on the back. The hedgehog squirmed slightly in her arms, and shrugged, shaking his head.

"It's just- ...I'm not feeling so good right now, and.."

"The bath will make you feel better, trust me." She cooed, stroking his quills in a sign of comfort. Sonic sighed and shifted uncertainly beneath her hand. Once he had apparently calmed down, Amy reached down for his left hand. Sonic, confused, at first considered pulling away, but Amy's grip was firm. She removed the glove from his hand, doing the same with his right. "You can't go in with your gloves and shoes still on, Sonic. Here, I'll put these gloves in the wash." Amy said, leaving momentarily.

Sonic looked around nervously, not wanting to be alone, not after all those hours spent in the dark. He shifted his weight, staring uneasily around the cramped space. His eyes wandered around the tile, to the counter, to...

a razor... (don't ask me why it's there, okay?)

Sonic shook his head vigorously and backed away. He was too used to thinking like that. He didn't like it. He hated himself for even considering cutting, after all Amy was here now, everything would be okay...

But something was wrong. He was still in pain. Why? She was back. He was missing nothing. And yet...

Sonic remembered the feeling of release he would get while watching a small trickle of blood fall down his arm...

He took another step, and reached for the blade..

"Hey, Sonic!" Amy announced, retuning from the laundry room. Sonic's hand snapped back to his side, and he backed away, relieved that he had not been caught. Amy noticed he was breathing heavily, and gently stroked his quills before giving him a kiss on the cheek. 'Is something wrong?" She asked, still petting his quills. He looked up from his feet, his large, sad eyes hitting Amy like a blow to the face. She immediately hugged him, stroking the spikes on his back. "Hey, It's okay, you can tell me, I wont laugh or anything."

Sonic looked to the ground.

"Nothing. It's nothing, really." The hedgehog answered, gently easing out of her embrace and removing his shoes. "...That bath actually does sound like a good idea."

* * *

The bath itself went rather smoothly. Sonic appeared to be enjoying himself, surrounded in a small mountain of bubbles while Amy gently massaged some form of shampoo into his quills. The difficult part, however, was getting the hundreds of suds out of his fur, which took some effort to accomplish. In a few minutes, however, Sonic was clean. And wet.

"Here, dry yourself off-" Amy requested softly, handing him a towel. "I'll go make some soup- you must be starving... " She murmured, turning to leave. A twinge of far jolted through Sonic, his eyes wandered to the razor and then to the door that Amy was about to open.

"A-Amy?" he asked, not wanting her to leave. She paused, and turned around, trying not to giggle at the sight of Sonic standing soaking wet in front of her. Any humor in the situation was instantly dimmed as she saw his distraught expression, and she walked up to him, stroking her gloveless hand across his wet spikes.

"What, now you can't even dry yourself off?" Amy joked harmlessly, taking the towel and gently rubbing Sonic's fur dry, careful not to pull on his quills. She continued to do this, when Sonic suddenly leaned upon her, wrapping his arms around her neck and resting his head on her chest. "Sonic!" She protested. "You're getting me all wet! Come on, you can sleep later.." she said, gently easing his body away from hers, when she discovered something odd. He was trembling. "Sonic... Sonic, you're shaking. Are... are you okay?" she asked. Sonic finally looked up at her, a terribly depressed expression in his eyes.

"Amy... I'm so ashamed..." he murmured, pulling away. The pink hedgehog moved closer, and rested a hand on his arm.

"For what?" She asked quietly, careful to keep her voice soft. Sonic paused, feeling terribly guilty of his actions,

"I was going to cut again." He murmured, staring into the wall behind her. "I don't know why... " he trailed off, and looked her in the eye. "It hurts... it really does. But I was going to... " He looked back up at her. "Help me, Amy. Don't let me do it. I don't want to." He stood there, staring at her, his entire body shaking in fear of rejection. "I don't want to."

Amy stared at him, her eyes wide in... horror? Pity? sorrow? Sonic couldn't place it. He cried silently, knowing that right about now she should be throwing him out the door. After all... she was being so nice to him... and how was he repaying her? He averted his eyes from hers, ashamed, and awaited her judgment.

He was not expecting her to draw him into a warm, protective hug, nor to gently tilt his face towards hers, to look him in the eye. Her expression contained a hint of sorrow, but mostly concern, and to Sonic's surprise, love.

"Being scared isn't a bad thing, Sonic. Being hurt isn't a bad thing. You're still hurt... pain just doesn't... " Amy paused. "It doesn't just go away." she let her composure droop, and again tilted Sonic's head comfortably against her shoulder. "Being scared isn't a bad thing."

Silence from the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic?"

No response.

"Y-yes it is. I-I shouldn't be scared, Amy. I'm a hero... I-I shouldn't have done any of this... I'm ashamed for being weak..." he sobbed. "Look what happened to me- when you left..." he held up his wrists, so Amy could see the scars. "I shouldn't have done any of this! Th-this isn't how heroes are supposed to act!" He cried, clinging to her tightly. Amy gripped him by the shoulders, and forcefully pulled him away from her, to look him in the eye.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of! It doesn't matter! You were hurt, I hurt you! You had every right to be upset! ..It doesn't matter now, Sonic! I'm here, I've got you, and it's going to be okay!" She shouted, pulling Sonic back into a hug. The blue hedgehog disagreed.

"I...I had thought... that it was my fault you died." He whispered, not quite strong enough to manage anything else. "I- I don't know what came over me- but from then on- I could only think that- ...that I let you down... and I didn't deserve to..." Sonic shut his eyes, trying to hold back tears. "I didn't deserve to live- not when you couldn't, because of me. I-"

"Stop! Just stop it!" Amy interrupted. "I can't bear it! I can't bear to see you like this!" She immediately stopped shouting when she saw his hurt expression. "Please... please, Sonic, I love you. I forgive you of whatever you thought you did wrong... I just want you to be happy... please, Sonic... " Amy grew silent. She was out of words. She could only hope that would snap Sonic out of it. He seemed to be relaxing, a little.

"You really forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive." She said quietly. Sonic leaned into her again, hugging her, and gave out a yawn.

"I'm exhausted..." he murmured. Amy sighed.

"Me too. Let's get you dried off, then we can both get some sleep." Amy said, turning to the door, Sonic wrapped securely in one arm.

"Wait- Amy, what did you mean by.. 'I hurt you.'?" he asked. "You never hurt me."

Amy shook her head.

"I should never have left you, Sonic. That was wrong of me." She held him a little closer to herself. "I'll never leave you again. I'll never hurt you again."

* * *

Sonic's once smooth and flat fur had now been turned into gentle and downy fluff; due to the bath now even his hard and mated quills had become soft and relatively harmless. If Eggman attacked now, he would be helpless, since he used his quills for most of his attacks. But Eggman was not attacking, and Sonic rested quietly within the arms of his beloved Amy, his head snuggled against her chest and her arms delicately wrapped around his lightly shivering frame. For once in nearly 11 chapters the fates had finally given him rest- and now Sonic was using that blessing to it's fullest. Nothing could take this moment from him.

Amy, now awake, stared down at him, almost disbelieving how well things had turned out, in the end. She moved around so that Sonic's body was gently supported by her own; he still lay, curled up in her arms but now he leaned into her. She could feel his breath on her neck and the quiet thud of his heart on her fingers, which lay on his ribs.

It was just one of those moments, if you understand. Amy had no words for what she felt at that moment. All she knew was that Sonic was safe. He was happy. And it was all thanks to her. She had never felt better in her life. She carefully lay down next to the small hedgehog, draping her arms around his waist. She would be here when he woke up, and she would stay with him as long as she could. Sometime in the next day she would have to tell the others that she was not dead- as well as verify that with the system so her belongings would not get scrapped away and distributed amongst wills and charities. But for now, she simply lay next to Sonic, keeping him warm and keeping him safe.

She was not concerned by his actions in the previous hour. Although Amy was helping him severely by simply being there, her presence could not just wipe away the pain, as if it had never been. Sonic had dug himself into a burrow of fear and pain to hide him from the terrors of insanity and misery, and now it was Amy's job to dig him back out. Slowly but surely, she would get her Sonic back.

She would see him smile. She would see his eyes light up with joy and she would hear him laugh. Eventually, he may even want to go running- regardless to whether Amy could be with him at every moment. Maybe someday she would even get mad at him for being rash and thoughtless- but for right now, Sonic needed her, and she would be there.

But for all eternity, the events of those three days would live on in Sonic's heart. There would be occasions when it would all come flooding back to him- and he would remember- and he would cry. But Amy would be there for him.

There would be occasions where Amy would remember watching him die. She would cry then, as well. But then Sonic would snuggle up to her and ask her what was wrong, and she'd remember that Sonic wasn't dead. He was right here. With her. Where he belonged. She leaned down, and gently brushed her lips against his.

He would hurt no longer.

Tha Ind (It's tradition, Liz, I can't go back on three years!)

* * *

WOW! My second story ever finished! Phew! That took a lot of hard work! I personally thought it would never get done! I'm going to miss typing this, though. It's been wonderful, gang! I would never have gotten this far without your support and suggestions, and I hope that this story goes down in history as one of the most widely celebrated of all Goth-written sonamy! But then again that's being vain. Anyway I'm proud, really, really proud of this. And I finally get to continue my other story, 'Fear' and start on my next two stories, 'My life sucks; the musical!' and 'Just a wall away.' both are going to be rated mature, however. No, I'm not going to tell you why in a T-rated story!

I'll see you all soon! I hope you enjoyed!


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